Breaking Tides

4 February 2010

Sum: What if Edward wasn't the first vampire Bella met?

Chapter 6

The next day was Friday and Edward walked her from each of her classes to the following one. "Jeez, it's not like a car is going to come and hit me inside the buildings." She teased him.

He looked at her as if trying to decide if it was a joke or if it was a warning. He took it as a joke in the end. "Yeah, I know, but that's not why I wanted to walk with you. Can't I walk with you and enjoy your company?"

"I guess..." Bella hesitated. "But the last time we'd talked really, you were still warning me to stay away."

"No, all I meant was that if you were smart you'd stay away. I want to be your friend, it's kind of nice having someone on the outside know my secret."

"Now you're sounding like Jake." Bella cringed as she realized she said the wrong thing for he suddenly tensed. She thought he'd take another step away from her, but he only continued walking, they were walking together yes, they were closer than she'd ever seen him get to her, yes, but there was still a foot's distance between them and it surprised her to realized that it bothered her. It shouldn't and she tried to give herself a thorough chastening for her stupid desires, she really would end up getting herself killed one of these days, she wanted the impossible, and stupid.

He didn't talk again for the rest of the distance to her next classroom. He had taken to removing her bag from her shoulder and carrying it the short distances when after each class she confirmed that he was in fact waiting for her outside her door. She had an idea on how he did it, but wasn't going to ask for that particular answer. Edward handed her back her bag and turned around and left.

Bella sighed, he wouldn't be walking her to the next class, she bet. She should be relieved about that. She really wished she could talk to an objective third party, but the only ones that knew what they were hated them.

She sat through the entire class without retaining much of it and she walked out with Angela. Edward was standing across from the door waiting for them to exit the room. "Hey I'll see you, I see Ben down the way." Angela said to Bella and then hotfooted it to the boy she liked.

Bella shook her head in amusement, she'd thought that Angela liked Eric, apparently she liked boys shorter than her, but they looked cute together. Edward came up to her side and took the bag off her shoulder, all without touching her. "I'm sorry, he's your friend, I'll just have to get used to it."

Bella nibbled on her bottom lip, trying to find the right words. She wasn't even sure what she wanted to say. Part of her wanted to reassure him and part of her knew that what he thought shouldn't matter. But everything was a shouldn't or should to her, and she needed to start living in the here and now and be true to herself and everyone else. He deserved at least that. "Don't worry Edward, I was an idiot for bringing his name up, I know the two of you are rival entities. It was my mistake."

"No, Bella, you don't understand." Edward took a-hold of himself as he said the words. "You are right about the hatred between us, but it's you that is important. You're friends with him, and I hope we're friends, so in the end, we should just keep our opinions to ourselves and not drag you into it."

Bella melted a little more at his kind understanding and tilted her head slightly in acknowledgment. "I shouldn't drag you guys into either of the other's business either. It's not right for me to do so, as a friend."

Edward didn't say much on the topic as he walked along side of her and eventually changed subjects. Bella had to wonder what his thoughts were, and could understand how frustrated he was in suddenly being shut out on her thoughts alone when everyone else was there for the picking. "Do you have plans for the weekend?" He asked offhandedly.

Bella hesitated, she contemplated where this was coming from and if he wanted to spend more time with her outside of school and she'd already decided she couldn't do it. It wasn't fair to Jake, he'd worry unnecessarily about her and it wasn't fair for her to say no, not when she was feeling so torn.

Seeing her uncertainty, Edward cleared his throat. "Just so I don't worry, it's going to be sunny this weekend."

"Ah..." Bella understood explicitly, the Cullens wouldn't be hanging around Forks. "No, not that I know of yet. Things might change during lunch, I think some of the boys wanted to go surfing."

An eyebrow lifted at her statement and she blushed slightly. "Just try not to hurt yourself?"

"I'll try, can't make any promises, it's not like I control my feet so well normally."

Edward laughed and departed her side with just a slight brushing of their hands as he handed back her pack. "I'll see you after class."

She watched him walk down the hallway and watched people part for him, but watched him as he passed, some with worry and others with lust, even some of the boys' face displayed the second. Neither gender were free of slight apprehension. He had to stop doing that, touching her, it made her incoherent even to herself for long moments at a time, and the sound of laughter, it just made her head spin.

Mike was at her elbow before she even headed in. "Eh, Bella, I was wondering, since its only a month away, if- well, if you didn't have plans already-"

Bella turned her thoughts to the boy at her side with curiosity, what was this about? "What Mike?"

"Well, I was wondering if you'd go to the prom with me?"

Bella was a second from freaking out, Jessica would kill her if she even heard word of this even breathed near her, she had to nip this in the bud at this moment. "I thought you were going to ask Jessica." She stopped to look at Mike to watch for his reaction.

"Eh, I could, but I was wondering if you had a date. She always has options."

"No Mike, I can't go with you, I already have plans." Shit, if Jessica made her life difficult it'd just cause one massive headache for her. Not that she was worried about actually anything Jessica could do, Lauren was more vindictive and hadn't been able to do anything really to her. But still, she'd rather have no worries and she'd worried about Jessica's feelings, since she liked Mike so much.

"Oh, ok, I'll just ask Jessica then." Mike looked slightly disappointed but seemed to accept it, but then he stopped and turned around to look at her. "It's not with Edward is it? I don't like the way he looks at you."

"Oh, and how is that?" She was more curious than anything else.

"Like he could devour you, that you're only a piece of meat." He answered, and to him, it was honestly how he viewed it, he'd never know how close he was to the truth.

Bella laughed it off, though she was slightly worried, she thought he was getting better, but what if he wasn't and only wanted to find a way to eat her without being blamed for it and breaking the treaty that fit so well with his family's lifestyle? Bella pushed the thoughts to the side, they weren't like that. "You worry too much Mike, it's a good thing we're not together, isn't it?"

He looked mixed up on what she meant and she had planned her words perfectly because he could either take it that it was a good thing that she and Mike weren't together or she and Edward, or she could mean both, it was up to him to take it the way he wanted, and he took it the way she figured he would, the way that meant he still had a chance with her. She wanted to roll her eyes. "Yeah, it just wouldn't work out between the two of you, you're too sweet for any of them."

Bella smiled slightly at the compliment, but she didn't take it to heart. "Thanks Mike, you're pretty nice too." She took her sat next to another person she talked to on occasion, forcing him to go find a seat in the back.

The rest of the day went quickly, at lunch Jessica and Angela conned her into going to Port Angeles with them to pick out dresses for the dance that was still a month away, and promised her there was a lot of good bookstores for her to ditch them for if it got too boring. They both were aware of her aversion to shopping by now. She accepted the terms and they planned it for Saturday during the day.

She saw Edward looking over at their table with something akin to distress crossing his features, she knew that he'd overheard, he'd been listening to her friends more and more, especially if it came to her and she didn't know if she should be flattered or annoyed at his intrusion into her life. Just because she was going to be out of the city was no need for him to worry, he was probably going hunting with his family anyways. Why was he worried anyways? It was better than going with the gang surfing, this way she couldn't fall into any whirlpools or geysers or get lost in the woods. She decided she was to take it as offensive that he was stressing about her taking a day-trip to a city a hundred times smaller than Phoenix, which she never had a problem in.

She sent him back a glare and he looked abashed and looked away. Edward knew he'd been caught and was properly chastened for it. Maybe he'd stop worrying about her now? She doubted it, but at least it was a vague hope, she knew how to take care of herself if she had proper warning.

Edward disappeared out the door with the rest of his family, apparently he wasn't going to walk her to class the rest of the day and in biology he was missing, and during gym Alice was not present either. Seeing the nice weather outside, Bella could understand their disappearance earlier in the day. She was just disappointed she didn't get a goodbye before they left and she could admit it to herself, she was disappointed, she had hoped that she meant more than that.

Saturday came early the next day and Jessica honked her horn to get her attention. Bella shook her head and was out the door only a few seconds later, she had been watching for Jessica's arrival. She didn't say anything as she slid into the backseat and greeted her driver and Angela. They were both excited to get the day started.

Around four, Bella thought she was going to have to tear her hair out to get them to finally let her go. After five stores and trying on every dress in sight, Bella had just about enough. Privately she was glad Lauren couldn't come, it would have just made that day so much worse. "Bella, what do you think about this one?" Jessica asked, twirling around in an obnoxiously bright pink dress and exposed a lot of her chest. Bella hated it, but it was just like the pale blue one she'd tried on earlier. So Bella hedged her comment towards that fact and Jessica sighed dejected. "I'm never going to find the perfect dress."

"There's been a lot of very nice ones." Bella put out there. "Some I think were the only ones left, or are original enough that you don't have to worry about anyone copying you."

Angela nodded, she looked a little droopy from shopping so long, but was willing to push on until Jessica was done. She'd already gotten her dress, but still kept an eye out for a dress that might be better than the one she picked and Bella didn't think it was possible. Angela's was slightly conservative but dressed her body perfectly.

"Look, guys, I think I'm going to head to the bookstore that I saw on the way here. Do you mind if I leave you to it?"

"No, that's fine, just meet up with us at six, we have reservations." Jessica ordered as Bella stood up to stretch out her stiff body from sitting so long. She mumbled something that sounded like an agreement and escaped to the outdoors. The sun was still above the buildings, but just barely as she set out in what she remembered as the direction of the bookstore. She found it just fine and checked out, buying a book that the Forks stores didn't carry and she felt a little like Belle in Beauty and the Beast, and then she had to laugh at herself for such a thought, for her name was the same except instead of the French derivative, it was the Italian and she was surrounded by different people, who could be considered beasts. The question was, who was her Gaston if she followed that thought down that road?

She'd have to be gorgeous if that was the case, and she definitely wasn't the prettiest girl in town, someone else would have to fill those shoes, only her name was similar and that's where it would end. Bella was looking for the restaurant now, it was getting closer to six, her watch read a quarter to, and if she was early, all the better, it would give her time to look over the menu as she waited and maybe start in on her book until they arrived. She remembered as she took another wrong turn and got more confused why it was so much easier in Phoenix not to get lost, there were maps and people to ask directions at every intersection and big monuments, the roads were laid out in a grid and was a lot more conducive to easy flow of traffic and understanding where the highlights were, everything guided you in that direction. If you were heading into an area with less people, you knew you were going the wrong way, and especially if you were going against large amount of foot traffic.

Bella turned to look for the most plausible exit and could hear whispers in the silence that descended on the area. Her footsteps had been drowning out the noise earlier. She glanced over her shoulder, trying to be unnoticed in doing so, and saw two men who stopped at her glance and pretended to be interested in something else. She didn't buy it and quickened her pace forward. If they were behind her, she might have some luck getting to the road that had a few cars going by up in front of her. Bella knew to stick to the main roads, she must have been so wrapped up in her thoughts to have gotten off track. She cursed her brain for forgetting the obvious and getting her into this mess. Light still splashed the ground she walked on, but it was dwindling.

Two more men rounded an alley way ahead of her and cut off her escape, thus effectively blocking her in. She glanced behind her this time without even bothering to hide it and discovered those two were a lot closer than they had been, they'd taken her stride and doubled it for speed. She stopped walking and tried to assess her options. Her hand tightened around her purse and if she had to, she would use it as weapon. Her dad had put pepper spray in it, and so she dug around for it and kept it in one hand and the purse in the other. Charlie had taught her self-defense only last summer and she could use that as well, but first, she'd try to escape, she had a lot better chance of that happening in this situation than one with vampires.

She decided the best way out of this was to go down a blind alley, seeing as how they had her cornered the other ways and so she darted towards the closest alley she could see. She heard them curse and chase after her and she slid to a stop before she went head first into a wall that was attached to the building rising up between the other two. Fuck. She had to fight her way out of this and she turned to the four men in front of her and braced herself to do just that. The alley was pretty big, if she could get past or knock out one of them, she might have enough room to run to safety before the others could touch her, that is, if she didn't have a klutz attack.

They crowded in on her and she sprayed one in the eyes, before it was ripped out of her hand and sent sprawling away, she'd kneed another and whacked a third in the head with her purse, but they still didn't go down or give her the opportunity to run, in fact it only made them angry.

"Got spirit, don't you?" One's hot breath covered her ear and then she was squeezing her eyes shut as light suddenly blinded her. The men too had to shield their eyes as the car stopped inches away from them. She was free and she could feel the heat from the engine from how close she was, she could even touch the paint if she wanted to. She looked up to see who had just departed the vehicle, though she knew whose it was in an instant once her brain caught up to her.

Bella couldn't have been more relieved to see Edward in her life. "Get in the car." He snapped and she didn't waste a moment to do so.

"Hey!" One of the guys made a grab for her and Edward was in his face slamming him to the ground.

"You don't know who you're messing with!" Another one objected attempting to cover for his 'friend' and intending to fight with Edward and Edward did his vampire thing.

Bella slid into the car, slammed the door shut and locked her side. She could only buckled up, as she watched the scene. Edward curled over and hissed at them, looking like a ferocious tiger, they stopped stunned and then she could see the fear fill their face as they realized they were in very real trouble, they ran and she waited on a hitched breath to see him chase them down and tear their heads off, not even desiring to feed off such cretins.

Instead he stood there for a long moment as the men disappeared into the shadows before he spun around and was in the car beside her before she could even blink. He was whipping the car around and before she found her voice found that they were on the highway, tearing down it at speeds she'd never known a car could go, and the ones they passed looked stationary. There was a tense silence between them, both too worked up to speak, Bella finally broke the silence.

"Thank you." She whispered.

"Just- distract me." He choked out. "The vile things they were thinking-"

"How'd you find me? I thought you couldn't read my thoughts?"

Edward laughed self-mockingly. "I can't, but once I knew you were going to be up here, it was easy to find Angela and Jessica. I thought you were safe with them, and the next moment I realized you weren't in their thoughts anymore and weren't with them. It was the most frightful thing in my life to realize you'd just disappeared like that."

"Wait, you were following me?"

"Don't sound so offended, I just saved your life." He sounded pissed.

Bella wanted to glare, but could only confess that he was right and she was glad he did so. "I- thank you."

"It was almost too late." He was still berating himself, for not being able to use his talent efficiently and Bella couldn't stand for it, no matter what he was, he now saved her life twice and she owed him, and if she was being honest, she owed herself too. She could no longer hold him at bay, it was too difficult to do so.

"It wasn't. Don't blame yourself." She was finding it hard to talk as she worried about impact with every car they barely managed to avoid, or at least in her eyes it was, and if he got a ticket-. "Won't cops catch you?"

He laughed and it sounded a little less tense than Edward had been since finding her. "Built in cop detector, remember?" He tapped his temple. "Besides, if a cop wants to try and chase me down, let him be my guest, he'd find it hard to even read the license, much less to catch me."

"Can't you please go slower? It's frightening me." Bella clutched at the seat and her fingers dug into the fabric. It really wasn't safe, even if he was a vampire who could read thoughts, someone might decide to make a lane change without even thinking about it consciously or subconsciously. Edward groaned and slowed down to a more reasonable pace and Bella realized they were heading back towards Forks. "Uh- Jessica and Angela are waiting for me at a restaurant. It'd be a little odd to show up back at my house when they aren't the ones to drop me off."

Edward was silent for a long time and Bella realized that he wasn't even thinking about going back to her place, probably intending to lock her up in a house full of vegetarian vampires in a deed to protect her from all things outside that could harm her. At least there each member was bullet proof, dent proof and able to break every bone in the attacker's body and catch her before she even bumped her knees or cut herself. "Ok, you need nourishment anyways and I don't think Esme would be able to create you anything edible in time." He swung the car around and they were back in Port Angeles in no time and parking in a stall just as the other two girls were coming out. Edward opened the door to greet them as he came around to open her door. "Hello, Bella and I ran into each other on the way here, and I offered her a ride."

Bella was helped out with a hand on her elbow and he shut the door after her. She looked at him as he talked to the other two and saw how at ease he was, completely different than he had been around her and she realized just how desirable her blood was for him. She was impressed all over again by his restraint and it just added more weight in his favor for the loosing battle she was fighting with herself.

"Oh." Jessica sounded surprised at seeing them together. "Well, we just finished eating and were just leaving. You coming with?"

"I will see to it that Bella eats, it is my fault after all that she is late, we got to talking. You two may go home and I will drop her off."

"Well..." Angela hesitated, looking at them to see if it was something Bella really wanted to do. "We could sit with you while you eat..."

"Go ahead, I don't want to make you guys wait any longer." Bella had an ulterior motive for this meal with Edward, not that he'd be eating anything anyways and she wanted to put Angela's fears at ease. She wasn't hungry, but she'd sit through it to get information out of him.

"Ok, we'll see you on Monday then." Jessica spoke for them both and headed to her car, Angela followed reluctantly and Bella winked at her in assurance. Angela smiled knowingly, but wouldn't say anything to anybody and for that Bella was grateful. She had a true friend in that girl.

Bella looked up at the restaurant and had to stifle her giggle at yet again being reminded of the name her mother had ironically picked out for her. "What's so funny?" Edward asked by her side and she noticed that the distance was almost non-existent.

"Oh, just thinking how ironic it is that of all the restaurants there are here, I end up at one called Bella Italia."

"I think it's strangely fitting." Edward disagreed leading the way in with a hand at her back. Bella had to wonder about his close proximity, surely it didn't just disappear over night, the intense desire to feed his addiction.

They were seated in a booth away from everyone else and knew Edward had something to do with it, somehow, but she wasn't able to see it or hear it. Perhaps he had dazzled someone again. Either way it fit her plans perfectly, she was going to tackle the strange relationship they had developed over the previous month or so.

"You want to ask me something." Edward stated once the waitress finally stopped trying to flirt with Edward and had taken his order, which was actually for Bella.

"Can you read it on my face?" She asked with a teasing smile on her lips.

"Yes. I also have to say that you seem very un-fazed for the trauma you have just been through. I can't believe you were trying to fight them off, did running never enter your mind?" He sounded furious about it and Bella took a second to evaluate his response. It seemed he was mad at her for her lack of self-preservation.

"Yes, I did, but I couldn't, but let's talk about that. Why were you following me? Why does it matter what happens to me?"

Edward was again interrupted from answering her right away as the waitress set the drinks down and made sure he had a glimpse at her breasts before she wandered away to take care of other customers. Bella ignored it, as did Edward, honestly, the girl probably couldn't help herself and Edward for his part was unaffected, which only added further weight to her question. "I told you, you're very important."

"Yes, but why is that so?" She pressed, leaning forward to assure him that she wasn't going to drop this.

"You- I-" He sighed to gather his response. "I feel very protective of you. I would hate for anything to happen to you."

"But why did you follow me up here, and at so much risk to yourself? It was so sunny out today it would put Florida to shame."

"I'm not strong enough to stay away from you anymore." He admitted, reaching out a hand and gently tracing the contours of the back of her hand with a single finger. She opened her mouth to push for more but he shook his head. "Not until you tell me how you know so much about my family and my kind." He countered, and he left her hanging because he would not break until she shared some of her secrets and she leaned back against the cushion of the booth, but without breaking contact. He seemed afraid to frighten her with his coldness and she interlaced her fingers with his. He jerked slightly at her action but relaxed into the back of his own seat and left their hands attached. He pushed the second drink towards her and she realized she'd downed hers in a second, not realizing how thirsty she was.

"Do I really have to?" She was attempting to delay the inevitable, she trusted him enough not to draw the other vampire's attention to her, and if she knew him as well as she thought she did now, she knew he'd freak out, but she was safest in Forks, as crazy as that sounded.

"Yes." He held up his other hand for her to wait though and a second later the waitress was back by their side with a plateful of pasta, and placed it before Bella with a clank. Then she turned and left the two alone, probably upset at the clear notion that they were in fact not brother and sister, but something else entirely and had no real chance with him. "Go on."

"You're taking pleasure in this." She accused.

He laughed. "I could be, I get to hold your hand and finally get you to spill your guts about something that has been bothering me for awhile, but I'm not, for anything you have to say means that you know about us and I fear what it is."

"It's true, I did encounter another vampire before moving up here." Edward sat forward, the hold on her hand tightening fractionally as he waited for her to continue, all humor in the situation gone at the words and she wondered at the change, he had to know it was coming.

"I had hoped that you had superior research skills and found out in other means and put it together on your own." He explained, seeing her calculating look.

"Oh, well yes, this vampire is a little different I guess. First off, he hangs around the school as a substitute teacher for rainy days in Phoenix, Arizona. He's got to have been changed in his early twenties, because I always thought he looked barely old enough to be a teacher and he's been mistaken for a high schooler. I had a brief run-in with him, end of story."

Edward was shaking his head before Bella even finished. "Not end of story, if you know so much, then he must know that you know, and he wouldn't let you just wander around, scott free. Which begs the question, why are you alive?"

"A question I have been asking myself a lot recently." Bella admitted and she set in for the long haul, knowing he wasn't going to like any of this. So she set into her story.

EAN: Hehe, I know, I'm evil, you'll have to wait until next time to hear her story. I'm setting the entire thing in flashback, so it'll sound like present day, and no narrative to Edward. Well... not really.