Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyers owns Twilight. I do not. I do however, own my 'gang'.

A/N: Also thanks to my awesome Beta, Blueboarderchick.

Thank you to my reviewers.

In answer to your question MissJacobPaul

I have a few ideas about Bella's shield development for the future but nothing certain.

It will be a while before you have to worry about that though.

Chapter 24

"Big jerk," I muttered under my breath as I angrily sifted through a rack of designer jeans. Alice and Rosalie smirked wickedly at each other and Liz shot me a worried glance.

We were in a downtown shopping boutique. Emmett, Jasper and a sulking Edward decided to take the guys skiing at the Anchorage Ski Club. It seemed like Taylor and Ryan would get to do their skiing after all. But I didn't think they would have much luck getting Zach on the slopes. He'd said as much when they dragged him into the car.

I was still more than a little pissed off after my big blowout with Edward that morning. I couldn't believe the nerve of him.

Rosalie grinned, "It about time you put Edward in his place. He's been taking way too many liberties with you." She picked up a black dress and held it to her body as she checked it out in the mirror.

Alice blew out a puff of air and rolled her eyes at Rosalie. "Usually, I'm on Edward's side but he really went too far this morning."

"You really tore him a new one, didn't you?" Liz's green eyes twinkled with pride as she raised an eyebrow. "So what did you say to him?" Alice, Rosalie and every other vampire at the house heard our argument but I had yet to explain to Liz and the guys.

(Flashback)

Oh Edward. What have you done?

I didn't want to turn around because if I did, I knew that my fantasy-like belief in Edward would be gone. The belief that he would never use me like that to get to someone I cared about. I didn't want to believe that Edward was capable of something like that.

Slowly, I turned around to see my deepest fears were confirmed. My friends were all standing a short distance behind us. They'd seen everything. I could only imagine how it all looked to them. Here I was in my bathrobe, kissing my ex-boyfriend in front of my bedroom door at the crack of dawn. It looked like he spent the night in my room. Well… he did but not like that.

Liz looked plain old bewildered, Ryan looked suspicious, Zach looked a little embarrassed and Taylor… well he looked a little hurt but mostly angry. Not being able to maintain his intense gaze as they bore into me, I shifted my eyes to the ground. Using my hair as a shield, I cursed my bad luck. What were the odds that just as Edward was leaving my room, the gang would be coming down the hall?

I suddenly realized that this was no accident. It was a damned set up, constructed by none other than my territorial ex fiancé, Edward Cullen. That's why he asked me to walk him out. He knew they would be there when he decided to put on his show. With a pain in my heart, I realized that Edward felt threatened by Taylor and decided to prove that I was still his. He used me and my feelings for him to stake his claim.

A soft noise broke the silence. It almost sounded like glass breaking. Raising my head to look at my friends, I saw that something was different with Liz and Taylor. Taylor's eyes were closed in concentration and his hands were balled tightly in a fist as he fought to control his breathing. Zach didn't notice when Ryan discretely alerted Liz to what was happening with Taylor. She stealthily moved to his side and gripped his hand. At her touch, he calmed down. As his breathing returned to normal, his eyes snapped open and rage burned in them as he stared at Edward.

A soft, menacing growl rumbled in Edward's chest and I turned back to him. "Edward, stop it." I whispered. What the hell was he trying to do, provoke Taylor?

The situation was beginning to turn dangerous. Edward's stupid ploy threatened to start a fight between him and Taylor. I racked my brain, trying to think of a way to stop that from happening. My friends could get hurt. Whatever ability Taylor might have had, I was sure he was still human and could die.

Miraculously, Alice appeared out of nowhere and intervened. "I was just coming to wake you guys up. Breakfast is ready." She chirped in cheerful voice that Edward and I alone knew was false. "Come along now. Esme's outdone herself this time." She then proceeded to usher them down the hallway leaving Edward and I alone but not before throwing an angry glare at him.

I could hardly bare to look at him. With a toneless voice, I said, "Get inside, Edward." I pointed to my room.

The look of triumph was gone from his face and in its place, concern. "Bella… I…"

I cut him off. Letting some of the anger I felt surface in my voice, I snarled, "Just get inside, Edward. I'm going to be doing a lot of yelling and I don't want everyone in this house to hear." There was no hope of keeping our upcoming fight from the Cullens but I didn't want to risk my friends hearing us.

With slumped shoulders, he went back inside. I followed him and slammed the door behind me. Finally inside, I allowed the tears of rage and shame to show on my face. Edward was still trying to feign innocence as he kept his marble face void of emotion.

"How dare you use me like that?" I spat venomously and my body shook with barely contained fury.

Edward looked like he was at a loss for words as he stared at me in shock. I don't think he'd ever seen me so angry before. And especially never at him.

"You have no right to maul me like that in front of my friends just because you feel insecure!" I screamed.

Edward began to pace back and forth in frustration. "You don't understand how he feels about you." I didn't have to ask who he was.

I stared at him incredulously. The first words out of his mouth should have been an apology. "That's all you have to say in your defense? You took away my will and forced yourself on me because you think Taylor has some ridiculous little crush on me?" My voice rose with every word.

Edward quit his pacing as his eyes darkened with anger. "It's not some little crush. You are the center of his thoughts. I don't know how to explain it. The only thing I've seen similar to it is imprinting." I shuddered with hatred when he said the word imprinting. He couldn't begin to fathom how much I despised that word. "I think if I spent more time around him, I should be able to decipher his thoughts…" He trailed off absentmindedly.

Indignant anger prickled my skin and I hissed at him, "Damn it, Edward! I want you to stay out of his mind. You have to respect his privacy."

Edward stiffened. "It's not like I have a switch to turn it on and off, Bella. I can't help it."

I wasn't going to let him pull that 'no control' crap on me. "I know you can't, Edward. But I know damn well you're able to tune out thoughts you don't want to hear."

He stared at me somberly and I realized that I hadn't been doing Edward any favors by going easy on him. I allowed him to get away with things like the touching and sneaking into my room at night. Now because of it, he thought we still had a chance. I had to shoot every possibility of us down and to do that I would have to tell him everything.

Taking a deep breath, I knew this had to be done. "Edward, I wasn't completely honest with you about why we broke up. There's something I didn't tell you."

Confusion flashed across his face. "What do you mean?"

"It's true that I didn't want to give up my life for you. But I didn't tell you that I'd also realized that I had feelings for Jacob Black. I slept with him, Edward. He wasn't just my friend… I was in love with him too." I glanced down at my hands.

Hurt blanketed his features as he processed this information. "What do you mean 'was'?" He clenched his jaw and fired off questions. "Why aren't you with him now? What did the dog do?"

Trying to defuse the situation, I spoke quickly. "He didn't do anything. He… imprinted." I paused feeling the stirrings of pain in my chest. "It's okay. I wasn't there to see it happen. I'd already left for school by then." It wasn't okay but I was managing. "I need you to give up on us, Edward. It's over between us and I won't change my mind. You have to promise me that what just happened will never happen again. If you can't promise, then our friendship is over." More tears came to my eyes. I didn't want to cut him off but if he couldn't stop, then I would do it.

Edward's face was somber as he said with conviction, "I'm truly sorry I upset you like that, Bella. I wasn't thinking clearly." He closed the distance between us. "I don't ever want to lose your friendship. I apologize."

I pulled away as he tried to take my hands in his. I squared my shoulders and looked him in the eyes. "You really crossed the line with me, Edward. You'll have to earn back my trust." The days of people taking advantage of my forgiving nature were over.

"I understand, Bella." I heard the resignation in his voice as he left the room with slumped shoulders.

Moments later, after having taken a bath and changed, I joined my friends for an awkward and uncomfortable breakfast. But as I was walking down the hallway, I observed that several of the framed photos of the family had large cracks in them.

A cold chill ran up my spine as I wondered if Taylor had been the cause of them.

(End Flashback)

I explained everything to Liz (minus the mind reading and his perception of Taylor feelings for me). I didn't know what to make of it. Edward told me that he couldn't be sure of Taylor's exact feelings because of the complexity of his brain. So, in the end, I really had no way of knowing if what he'd told me was correct. I hoped Taylor's feelings weren't like imprinting at all. Obsessive love confused with destiny.

I already had obsessive love thank you very much. Case in point, Edward. I suppose I might have been a little jealous that I hadn't been imprinted on but I wasn't a werewolf. So I didn't have to like it. I preferred to choose who I loved for myself. Not be brainwashed by magic.

"What a jerk!" Liz snapped. "Do you want me to kick him in the nuts when we get back home?" She was actually serious.

I couldn't help the giggle that escaped when I pictured Liz breaking her foot on Edward's nuts. I mean… my God. My giggle turned into outright laughter and Alice and Rosalie joined me. At least they got it. Liz stared at us as if we were insane.

Rosalie was the first to regain control of herself. "I like this one, Bella. Can we keep her?" She slinked an arm around Liz's waist and grinned. I stared at the two women as they stood side by side. With their waves of rich, blonde and brunette hair, they were both stunning in their own right. Not to mention that they were both incredibly strong women having survived the things they did. I sidled up to Liz's side and wrapped an arm around her waist and replied, "Get your own."

Later, as we were lugging our many purchases back to the car, Alice said softly, "I told you that Liz would be good for you." I smiled enigmatically at her in reply. I guess Alice was right after all.

"Dude, where's your game?" Ryan pounded the keys on his controller.

"I'm gonna kick your ass, sucka." Emmett threatened. They were playing Madden on Jasper's Playstation. I assumed someone was winning.

"Man, I am the football king. Right, Zach?" Ryan slipped a quick peek at Zach then turned his attention back to the game.

Zach distractedly mumbled, "Yeah, you are." I was beginning to worry about him. Ever since the guys came back from skiing, Zach seemed increasingly withdrawn. He was always off somewhere inside his mind. He wasn't being his usual flirtatious, ridiculous self. I found it peculiar. Even weirder was the glances Edward would give him on occasion.

We were sitting in the living room watching Ryan and Emmett play, when Alice jumped up, "Hey, does anyone want to do some ice-skating? There's a frozen pond in the back yard."

I wasn't too good on skates, so I intended to watch only. Everyone except Emmett, Ryan, Zach and Edward decided to join in. They were much more interested in their video games and I assumed Edward wanted to keep his distance from Taylor. I followed everyone else out back where Alice brought out some ice skates for us to choose from. Esme and Carlisle opted to sit in their porch swing and watch everyone have fun.

As I observed the others making their way onto the ice, Taylor turned to me, "You're not coming, Isabella?"

I shook my head. "I'm not that good with skates and I don't have a death wish. So, I'll sit this one out." I tried skating when I lived in Phoenix but it didn't turn out so well.

He held his hand out to me. "Come on, I'll teach you." I was a little surprised. We hadn't really said much to each other since the whole Edward thing. I noticed Liz, Rosalie and Alice were grinning like fools.

I was hesitant. "Well… I don't know…" Images of me smashing into someone or falling through thin ice assaulted my mind.

Alice piped up. "Aw, come on, Bella. It's fun. Right, Liz?"

"Right." Liz replied with an odd twinkle in her eyes.

"O-Okay…" I conceded. It seemed like no one was willing to let me sit this one out. I laced up the lavender skates with my name in sparkles on it. Thank you, Alice.

Gingerly, I made my way out to the ice where Taylor stood waiting for me. I spotted Alice and Jasper gliding gracefully on the other side of the pond. Wishing I could be that dexterous, I sighed inwardly. The only thing I inherited from my ballet lessons was my flexibility.

Placing my hands in Taylor's, I allowed him to pull me onto the ice. My knees were locked and my entire body was incredibly tense.

"Just trust the ice and try to relax." Taylor coached me and I nodded.

Willing myself to relax, I tried taking small steps. Suddenly, I panicked and leaned on my toe picks which caused me to trip. I closed my eyes, anticipating the fall that was sure to follow. Taylor propelled himself forward and wrapped his arms around me, preventing me from falling.

"It's all right. I have you." Still holding me close, he soothed me. "Are you okay?"

As I looked up at him to answer, my mind suddenly went blank. Taylor's face was about a couple of inches away from mine. I marveled at his thick black hair and piercing green eyes as they looked back at me. For a moment, longing along with an unidentifiable emotion flashed in his eyes and I blushed. He was too damn close.

Flustered I looked away and mumbled, "I'm good."

Releasing me, Taylor returned to his previous position still holding my hands in his.

"You ready?" Taylor inquired.

"Yes." I said firmly. Trying to bolster my confidence, I took a deep breath and forced myself to relax.

Clutching Taylor's hands in a death grip, I propelled myself forward on the slick ice with a series of strokes. We circled the pond with only few minor slips on my part.

"See. You're a natural." He smiled and squeezed my hand.

I grinned, growing more confident with each step. "I doubt I'll be doing any triple toe loops anytime soon."

Taylor moved behind me placing a hand on my waist while keeping a tight hold on my hand. "So… are you and Edward back together?"

His question startled me a little as I thought Liz had already explained everything to the guys. Liz was skating as close to us as possible, trying to listen in on our conversation. The little snoop. With their super hearing, Alice, Jasper and Rosalie didn't have to be close to hear us. Even though they were feigning disinterest, I knew they were listening to us.

"No, I'm not getting back together with Edward. Why do you ask?"

"I don't know, it just looked like it this morning." I winced remembering what he'd witnessed… what they all must have witnessed. "I mean the Cullens… this life… it all looks so perfect."

"It is perfect but I'm not." I sighed. No matter how much I wanted to belong to Edward and his world, I knew I never would.

The hand on my waist squeezed gently. "No one is."

Our touching moment was ruined when Liz hit me in the face with a snowball and a snowball fight broke out.

Two days later, I was in my room packing my things up. We were due to leave for the airport in fifteen minutes and I was looking forward to going back home. As much as I'd missed the Cullens, I was anxious to return to my life at school.

Over the course of our visit, Emmett and Ryan grew close. They were like two peas in a pod. They constantly teamed up to annoy the hell out of Rosalie and Liz. Alice looked to Liz as a fellow fashionista and tried to get her to gang up on me to play Bella Barbie. Liz was proud and Alice disappointed, when I put my foot down and ended her plans. I had quite enough of Alice pushing her will on me in the past and I wasn't going to put up with it anymore.

Liz really grew on Rosalie. She seemed almost carefree whenever Liz joked with her. Even cracked a few laughs here and there. It wasn't hard to understand why they'd hit it off. They'd both crafted tough exteriors to protect their vulnerabilities but they were big softies on the inside. I don't think I'd ever met a person that didn't like Liz. Liz really soaked up Esme's motherly attention. It was easy to see how much she'd missed having a mom when she was growing up.

Edward and Taylor were civil to each other but I didn't think the two men would ever be friends. Everyone did their best and made sure that the two men were never alone together. A few times I'd even caught them glaring at each other.

I'd even walked in on a tense conversation they were having. One day they'd managed to find themselves alone in the living room. I was coming down the stairs, on my way to the kitchen when I overheard them talking.

"She still loves me, you know." Edward's voice dripped with confidence.

"I'm aware of that but you should be man enough to admit that she doesn't want a life with you."

"Just what is she to you anyway? Do you even know?" Edward was trying to get Taylor to think about his feelings so he could listen in.

Taylor refused to be sidetracked. "My feelings are none of your business. I'm only going to say this once. You touch her like that again and you'll have to deal with me."

Edward laughed patronizingly. "And what will you do to me, Taylor?"

"Do not push me, Edward. I can guarantee you won't like what happens." Taylor's voice was low and menacing.

There was no trace of amusement in Edward's tone. His delivery was quiet and dangerous. "I'll ask you again. Just what is she to you?" The situation was quickly spiraling out of control. I ran down the stairs and into the living room to see Edward and Taylor almost nose to nose. Taylor's eyes blazed as he seethed with anger and Edward returned his look with a deadly glare of his own.

Suddenly Jasper and Emmett showed up, flanking Edward's side. Emmett placed a calm yet restraining hand on Edward's shoulder. "Hey, man. We've been looking for you everywhere. Carlisle wants to see you." Emmett tugged slightly but Edward refused to move.

I ran into the room and grabbed Taylor's arm. "Hey, why don't we go for a walk?" He shifted his gaze from Edward to me and his eyes softened slightly. I silently pleaded for him to listen to me.

"Okay." He conceded and allowed me to pull him from the room.

For the remainder of our visit, they ran Jasper ragged trying to keep them calm and Emmett teased me constantly about inciting riots. Emmett and Jasper stuck to Edward like glue for the entire visit. I think they were afraid that Edward would get jealous again and try to fight Taylor.

Zach, however, was a different situation. He grew increasingly solicitous and appeared to be exhausted all the time. I didn't think he was getting enough sleep. Every time we asked him what was wrong, he'd wave us off saying he was just feeling a little under the weather. We all knew it was a little more than that. Something was bothering him but he refused to talk about it.

As I was looking for the new top of the line taser gun Emmett bought me, my bedroom door burst open, revealing a terrified Zach. His russet colored skin was a sickly color with a light sheen of sweat on his forehead.

His eyes were wild as they scan my room and he quickly closed the door.

I stood up straight. "Zach… Are you okay? You don't look so good."

Zach didn't answer me. Instead he roughly grabbed my arm and dragged me into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind us.

I was officially creeped out as I whirled around to face him. "Zach, what gives?"

His hazel eyes pinned me with an intense stare and he raked his hand through his hair. "I want you to tell me the truth, Izzy. Okay?"

"What's this about, Zach?"

I think my heart just about stopped when Zach asked, "The Cullens aren't human, are they?"

A/N:Has Zach figured out the Cullen's secret?

Coming up next Bella and Zach have a discussion. And it'll be flu season at the apartment.

You know what to do if you want your chapter early. Review!