Chapter Eighteen – (routines, fights & love)

EPOV

A yawn escapes me as I blink a few times before glancing at my radio clock. 6.30AM. Argh, half an hour before my alarm is even due to go off. I roll onto my back and rest my arm across my face. I take a deep breath and let it out slowly as my mind races a million miles an hour.

Bella and I have become a lot closer and intimate with each other lately. When we make out, my hormones go wild and I can't help but run my hands all over her amazing body. I keep it PG rated though, because I don't want to force her into anything. To be honest, if I don't control myself I'll end up with a huge hard on, and that would be beyond awkward. And let me tell you, I've already had to rub one off in the shower because of my mind running on its own course.

Speaking of which, I think it's time for a shower now.

I spot Bella standing with Alice and Rose as I pull into the school parking lot. Rosalie says something to her and she looks up in my direction, smiling as she sees me driving towards them and parking next to her Truck. I don't take my eyes off Bella's as I make my way to her and press my lips to her mouth. She smiles against my lips and wraps her arms around my neck, running her hands down my back and hugging me tightly before pulling away.

"Hey," I greet her.

"Hi. How was the rest of your weekend?" she asks.

"Boring without you,"

"Same." She replies.

The sound of a loud motorcycle interrupts our conversation and some tan skinned kid with black, short cropped hair parks in the principals' parking spot. A blonde girl climbs off the back of the bike and wraps her arms around his neck. They begin to make out. Once they're done, the blonde girl turns around. My jaw physically drops at who the blonde is - I should've known it was Lauren. She looks over at us and the boy follows her gaze. His eyes widen before a smirk forms on his lips. Bella entwines her hand with mine and the boy's smirk falls. Lauren rolls her eyes and shakes her head before walking away. I look down at Bella and see that she is looking directly at the boy with an annoyed expression on her face. I look back to the boy just as he begins to wave in our general direction. I narrow my eyes at him before turning back to Bella.

"Who's that?" I ask.

"Some guy I met at La Push beach."

"Are youse friends?"

"No." she says in a disgusted tone "I saw him hassling one of the boys in our year. He spotted me and then introduced himself –"

"What's his name?" I cut her off.

"Jacob. I could tell he's younger than me yet he persisted on hitting on me,"

"Oh, really?" I ask before looking over at him and raising my brow at him. He rolls his eyes before walking over to us.

"We meet again," he says to Bella.

"I'm sorry?" she asks, feigning confusion.

"Jacob. Remember? We met at La Push Beach."

"No, sorry." She says innocently. He quirks his brow at her before running his hand over his face.

"C'mon you can't forget me." he says in an annoyingly confidence voice. This kid is going to really piss me off; I can feel it in my bones.

"Oh, now I remember," she says. "You're that annoyingly persistent kid who couldn't take a hint to leave." She explained. A smile on her face.

"Oooh, burn." Rosalie says with Alice giggling beside her.

"And you are?" he asks Rose.

"Someone way too good for you to even be talking too," she replies with a cunning smile on her lips.

"Run along now," Alice adds.

"Right." He says before looking back at Bella. "Great friends you have. Think they're a bit too stuck up for you though," he says sarcastically.

"Hey! Rude much?" Alice exclaims.

"That's my sisters you're talking about." I tell him in a cold voice.

"And?"

"And I'll kick your face in if you talk about them like that again." I say, stepping closer to him.

"Yeah?" he taunts me. Bella steps in between us.

"I'd appreciate it if you left my boyfriend alone." She says. Hands on her hips, eyes narrowed at Jacob.

He looks me up and down before looking back to her.

"Whatever," he mumbles before turning on his heel and walking back to his bike. He looks back at us.

"Do you think he'd mind a little show?" I ask Bella.

She looks up at me. Her eyes confused.

"What?" she asks before I cup her face in my hands.

She glances at Jacob then back to me, finally understanding what I mean. She smiles at me before closing the distance between us, wrapping her arms around my neck and placing her lips to mine in a passionate embrace. The next thing I hear is him speeding off on his bike. We don't usually make out like this in public, but this Jacob kid really irks me to no end. We pull away, catching our breath. I don't even notice Jasper and Emmett until they say something.

"What was all that about?" Jasper asks.

"Just some idiot kid," I reply.

"Seemed pretty intense, bro," Emmett says.

"It's nothing," Bella says.

"Yeah, well. Why the hell did you two start sucking face like it's the last thing you'll ever do?" Emmett asks through a laugh.

"Well it's certainly one way to get rid of someone," Rose chimes in.

"I'll say." Alice says through a laugh.

The bell rings for first class. I kiss Bella on the cheek before walking to gym with Jasper.

I'd have to say that Gym is, without a doubt, my most favorite class at Forks High. It lets me release all of the frustrations with my life. And it basically stops me from beating idiots to a pulp when they piss me off. Actually, sometimes not even Gym can stop that from happening, especially when an incident happens in the class. Like today. I swear to god, Tyler Crowley and Mike Newton are the biggest dickheads in this town. They don't seem to understand the concept of privacy and minding their own business and knowing when to shut their fucking mouths before I shut it for them.

Jasper and I were on the same team today when we were playing basketball. Everything was going fine until the end of the game when Mike opened his fucking mouth.

"So, have you fucked her yet?" he asks.

"Excuse me?"

"Bella. Have you fucked her?" he looks at me expectantly, not even thinking for a second that he's being out of line.

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

"What?"

"That's none of your fucking business!"

"I'd take that as a no." Tyler taunts.

"What the fuck has this conversation got to do with you?" I yell.

"Just calling it as it is, man. She's a freak. Hasn't associated with anyone until you lot came to town."

"And did you hear about her snapping at Lauren? She's fucking crazy," Mike adds.

"You don't know shit about her. Lauren is a fucking bitch, she got what she deserved." I say through clenched teeth.

"Whatever, she'll probably dump your ass soon anyway; you're just fresh meat,"

"Jealous, are you?" Jasper asks.

"Of him? As if," Mike says through a laugh.

"What-the-fuck-ever, asshole."

I go to walk away, but no. They have to keep going.

"What's the matter, Cullen? Is she that much of a freak that she's frigid?"

I turn on my heel and head towards him. Jasper holds me back as I bellow at him.

"You better watch your fucking mouth or you will seriously regret it!"

"Don't take it out on me just because your girl isn't putting out," Mike says.

"I'm going to beat your ass to a fucking pulp!" I yell as I continue to struggle in his arms, trying to get my hands on those stupid motherfuckers.

"Look at him go, he's as crazy as she is," Tyler taunts.

"I swear to fucking god, you're gonna regret this shit. Let me go, Jazz!"

"Calm down, Ed. They aren't worth it,"

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Jazz lets me go but stays close to me.

"Not that it's any of your fucking business, but no, I haven't fucked her yet. She means more to me than a fucking root, you pathetic prick,"

"Woaaaah, someone's whipped like a bitch," says Tyler.

"Speak of the devil, here she is now. How long you been standing there, sweetheart?" Mike asks.

I turn around to see Bella standing in the doorway with tears in her eyes.

"Long enough," she whispers before turning around and walking away.

"Bella!" I call before running after her. "Bella!" I call to her again. She stops walking and turns around to face me. I hope to fucking god she didn't hear all of their bullshit.

"How much did you hear?" I ask as I take her face in my hands. She closes her eyes and takes a breath before answering.

"From the part when Tyler called me a freak."

"Fuck!" I cuss. She opens her eyes and looks me straight in the eyes. "Babe, they're fucking idiots, don't even worry about what they said,"

"How can I? The whole school thinks I'm a psychotic freak!" She yells. Fresh tears begin to fall down her face as she begins to have trouble breathing.

"It's alright, baby," I whisper as I wrap her in my arms. "Breathe,"

"I can't,"

"You can. It's okay,"

"Look at me. I am a freak," she says through a sob. I step away from her and take her face in my hands again. I keep my eyes on hers.

"You are not a freak. You have gone through shit no one knows about. Isolating yourself was how you dealt with the pain. What they say doesn't matter because you're fucking amazing. You're amazing and you mean so much to me and I don't want to see you like this,"

I place my lips to hers and kiss her as passionately as I can. She breathes a sigh of relief.

During lunch on Tuesday, everyone was staring at us – which irked me to no end. Tyler and Mike kept whispering with the others at his table, including Lauren, no doubt telling them what went down during gym yesterday. Lauren and her snotty little sidekick Jessica were constantly snickering and giggling as they looked at us, but as soon as Rosalie would give them her infamous death stare, they would stop and turn around. Emmett had to hold Rosalie back a few times to stop her from going over there and kicking their superficial heads in.

"I need to start going to the gym again to let some steam off because those bitches are doing my fucking head in!" Rosalie says, her voice raising an octave on the last sentence.

"It's alright, Rose. Really," Bella says quietly.

"No it isn't, Bella. I don't know how many beatings it will take to get through to those girls but I'm quite happy to oblige,"

"Have you thought of anger management?" Jasper asks playfully.

"Fuck you, Jazz. I don't need anger management."

"I think you do, I'm never as angry as you, and we're twins,"

"Maybe the anger skipped you and Rose ended up with it all," Alice says.

"If you ask me, you need a bit of anger Jazz; you're such a mellow motherfucker," I joke.

"You say that now, but you'll come crawling to me one day asking for my help,"

"Pigs ass, I will." I scoff.

I look down at Bella to see that she's smiling softly to herself as she watches everyone banter and pick on Jasper and Rosalie. I play with her hair and plant a kiss on her forehead, causing her to tilt her head back and look up at me. I smile at her, getting a genuine smile back as the blush rushes into her cheeks. I pull her chair closer to me; wrapping my arm around her as she leans into my chest.

The bell rings, signaling the time for third hour biology. I entwine my hand with Bella's as we walk to class.

"You okay?" I ask.

"Yeah, I guess,"

"You're not worried about what everyone was saying, are you? They're being idiots,"

"No, I'm fine."

I open the classroom door, letting her walk in before me. I stay close to her as we walk to our table which is directly in front of Mike and Tyler's table. As Bella goes to sit down, Mike makes a hand movement circling his finger next to his temple, indicating that Bella is crazy. I walk to our table faster with a death glare on my face which seems to make them back off. I pull her stool closer to mine before she sits down, I wrap my arm around her lower back, and she leans on my shoulder and puts her head down. I see a tear drop fall onto our bench.

"Don't cry, baby, they aren't worth it," I tell her quietly.

"I know," she replies in a whisper, "I can't help it," she adds.

"Okay everyone, today we're completing a Video Notes/Handout that accompanies 'Mapping Stem Cell Research: Terra Incognita' The Handout is due in your Cells Process Packet." Mr. Banner announces.

The rest of the class groans as Mr. Banner makes his way around the room, giving us our handouts. Once he reaches Bella and I, he takes in our position.

"Is everything okay, Miss Swan? Are you ill?" he asks her concerned.

"No, I'm okay sir. Thanks,"

"She's actually having trouble with some students, sir." I add.

"Edward." She scolds me.

"No, no, Bella. If you're having trouble with students you should tell someone, what's the matter?"

"Everyone is making fun of her, saying she's crazy because of what happened between her and Lauren,"

"Oh, yes I heard about that, blown a bit out of proportion I think. Who's doing the taunting, may I ask?"

"Um, Mike Newton and um, I don't know the other boys name," she replies quietly,

"Tyler Crowley."

"What about me?" Tyler asks.

"Talking about you, not to you moron," I reply annoyed.

"Now, now, Edward, no need for that. Mind your own business please, Mr. Crowley."

"My name was mentioned, that makes it my business, Sir."

"Sit. Down." Mr. Banner scolds him before turning back to us.

"I can see how he and Mike can be a bit of trouble; I'll keep an eye on them,"

"Thanks, Sir."

"It's no problem, Edward – Bella?" she looks up at him. "If they give you any more trouble out of class, come find me okay? I'll handle them for you,"

"Thank you, Sir." He smiles at us before walking away and turning on the video for our handout.

English on Wednesday felt like it was never going to end. It felt like the longest hour of my life. Mr. Berty kept on ranting about our assessments and how most of the class did really poorly and that they need to start asking for help if they're struggling. Jasper and I, of course, did perfectly fine with the assessment and got an A because we already did this assessment at our old school before we moved to Forks, so we were pretty much not paying attention and talking throughout the whole lesson.

"So Bella's coming over for thanksgiving, yeah?"

"Yeah," I reply, a smile automatically forming on my lips.

"Man, you are so whipped," he teases.

"So? I remember quite profoundly that you were whipped when you and Alice first got together. You still are,"

"True," he admits through a laugh. His eyebrows Knit together, which usually happens when he's either thinking really hard about something or trying to figure out a way to ask me something.

"Spit it out, Jazz."

"Are you in love with her?" he asks. My eyes go wide.

"Fucking hell, can you be anymore straight forward?"

"It's a simple question, Edward," he looks at me expectantly, waiting for me to answer.

"Right, well, I don't know? How do you even know when you're in love with someone? How did you know you were in love with Alice?" I ask him.

"When I realized everything I did revolved around her and I didn't see anyone but her."

I quirk my brow at him, needing more help than that. He rolls his eyes before sighing and leaning back into his seat.

"How do you feel when you're around her?" he asks.

"Uh, well, every time she smiles it makes me smile, every time she laughs it makes me happy, every time I kiss her the whole world disappears, every time I see her upset I just want to hold her and make it all go away, I feel very protective of her, and every time she walks into the room my mood automatically lifts and I, um, yeah. I'm in love with her."

Jasper looks at me with a smile on his lips and nods his head. I roll my eyes at him before running my hand down my face and taking a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

"Are you going to tell her?"

"What? I don't even know if she feels the same!"

"So?" he says through a laugh. "Don't be such a pussy, Ed. Just tell her,"

"But what if she freaks out?" I ask nervously.

"Dude, she's a chick she'll turn in to putty,"

"She's not like that, Jazz, and you know it,"

"True," he says, pursing his lips. "Just tell her anyway, man. What have you got to lose?" he adds.

"Oh, um, I don't know? Her maybe?" I question him.

"Whatever. You're an idiot – just think about it for a few weeks and then tell her. Why don't you tell her at thanksgiving or something? That's in a few weeks,"

"Really? You seriously think I should tell her?"

"Fucking hell, Ed. How long have you been with her?" he asks.

"Uhh, about five weeks I think? You're sure it's not too early? " I ask him, uncertain.

"Right, so over a month, that's plenty of time, man. I told Ali I loved her after three weeks of dating her. Just man up and do it." He says straightforwardly.

"Okay. So on Thanksgiving. That gives me what? Two weeks to man up and do it,"

"Yep," he replies casually. Fucking prick.

Alice and Bella meet Emmett and I outside of our Trig classroom.

"God, I fucking hate Trig so much," Emmett complains.

"Tell me about it. When am I ever going to need to know about the study of triangles? Seriously? And Jessica being in my class doesn't help things,"

"Is she still giving you shit? I can get Rose onto her if you want?" Emmett asks seriously, causing Bella to laugh.

"No, it's alright. But thanks, Em." She smiles as he wraps his arm around her shoulders and pulls her into a tight hug.

"Owe. Em, I think you're squishing my bones," she says through a chuckle.

"Oops, sorry," he apologizes as he releases her.

"Are you sure you aren't on steroids?" I ask him playfully, he punches me in the arm.

"I'm not on steroids!" he says frustrated.

"Calm down, I'm only kidding, it's not my fault you're a fucking tank," I tease him.

"Whatever, man." He says before walking away, grabbing Alice and making her walk with him.

When we all reach their English room, Emmett is the typical dickhead he is and escorts them to their seats while I wait in the doorway. When he looks at Lauren and Jessica, he has a deadly serious expression on his face; they slide further down into their seats which causes me to laugh quite loudly. Lauren glares at me so I flip her off, her jaw literally drops. I feel Bella's eyes on me so I look over at her to see her brow quirked and she shakes her head with an expression on her face that clearly says 'we'll talk about that later' I give her my famous smirk, she rolls her eyes as a blush rushes into her cheeks. She smiles at me softly before I close the door.

Yep, I'm definitely in love with her.

Coach Clapp screwed up his time table on Friday so the girls and boys had to have a combined gym lesson. The only good thing about that is that I got to see Bella, but the worst thing is that she would probably have to listen to Mike and Tyler's fucking bullshit all lesson, and considering he's a part of the Lauren and Jessica posy just made everything ten times worse.

Coach made us guys run up and down the gym about Six times for a warm up, not including the way back to the start line so it was technically Twelve times. He's fucking crazy if he thinks that's only a warm up.

He made the girls run up the bleacher steps four times, while one of them was running up it one of them was running down it. That's when shit hit the fan.

Bella was running down the stairs whilst Lauren had to run up them, I don't know how the fuck that happened considering Coach Clapp knows they hate each other, no doubt Jessica had something to do with it. Anyway, Lauren, being the annoying bitch she is, stopped on the steps to 'catch her breath' and tripped Bella over. It all happened in slow motion; I watch her fall down, rolling down at least four steps until she grips the steps to stop herself from going further.

"What is wrong with you? Are you trying to kill her?" I hear Alice scream as I make my way to them.

"Bella!" I call out as I push through the crowd. I run up the stairs and crouch on the opposite side of Alice.

"Are you okay?" I ask as I take her face in my hands.

"I'm so sorry, Bella my leg just slipped," says Lauren, feigning innocence.

"I'm sure it fucking did." I scold her before standing up and getting in her face. "You and your stupid fucking posy call her crazy but you're the one who's crazy! She'd never try doing that shit to you –"

"She already fucking did, Edward. Or do you not remember that? She ran at me and tried to attack me!" she screams cutting me off.

"Because you were harassing her and saying horrible things to her!" Alice yells as she stands up.

"Uh, can you guys please stop yelling?" Bella says through a groan.

"Yeah, calm down baby." Jasper tells Alice as he places his hands on her shoulders. Alice crouches down next to Bella, and begins to help her up.

"Are you okay?" she asks her, concern clear in her voice.

"Yeah, I'm okay. My hip hurts though, and my head." She replies before placing her hand on her head. She begins to walk but stops abruptly. "Owe, okay, yeah my leg hurts too." She says through clenched teeth.

"Fucking hell, you're such a bitch Lauren!" I yell at her. I feel Bella's hand on my arm and automatically relax.

"Edward. Calm down I don't want you getting into trouble," she says quietly before walking in front of me and wrapping her arms around my waist and kisses my chest. I smile down at her as she looks up at me. I place a kiss on her forehead before bending down and picking her up.

"What are you doing?" she squeals.

"I'm carrying you to the nurse's office, obviously," I tell her through a chuckle.

"I'm perfectly capable of walking there myself,"

"Clearly, you're not. Considering you just tried to walk and your leg hurt." I finalize.

"Fine." She mumbles before wrapping her arms around my neck. I glance at Lauren before walking the rest of the way down the stairs; she has the most pissed off look on her face and is completely seething. Jasper and Alice follow behind us.

Once we get into the hallway Bella begins to fidget.

"Can I please walk the rest of the way now?" she asks, annoyance creeping into her voice.

"No. What if your leg is seriously hurt?" I ask her seriously. She rolls her eyes and begins to struggle in my arms.

"Edward, seriously, I'm fine!" she complains before adding, "Look. I'll put all of my weight on you when i walk, okay?"

"Just let her down, man." Jasper says through a chuckle.

"Fine." I sulk before letting her down and stepping away.

"Hey!" she whines at me. I smirk at her and quirk my brow at her.

"What?"I ask.

"Why are you moving away from me? I just said, i was going to put all my weight on you when i walk." she replies in an annoyed tone.

I roll my eyes at her before stepping a little bit closer to her. She grabs my arm and pulls me closer to her, wrapping her right arm around my back and entwining her left hand with my right. I laugh quietly to myself as i place my arm around her back, supporting her as she puts all of her weight onto me when we begin to walk. I glance behind us at Jasper and Alice. Jasper has a knowing smug smirk on his face and Alice is beaming.

When we get to the Nurse's office she dabs an antiseptic on Bella's wounds and bandages them. She tells her she's lucky she didn't get a concussion, but to take some pain killers for the headache when she gets home.

"So she's okay then?" Alice asks anxiously.

"Seriously, Alice. You always freak out over nothing," Bella says through a laugh.

"But you practically almost died! You heard Nurse Cooper, she said you were lucky you didn't have a concussion!" she says exasperatedly.

"Calm down, babe. She's fine," Jasper soothes her. She leans into his chest and breathes a sigh of relief.

Nurse Cooper gives all of a slip of parchment that excuses us from the rest of our classes for the day.

"Are you alright to drive home, babe?" I ask Bella.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." She says, smiling up at me. I smile back and entwine her hand with mine and walk out to the parking lot. Jasper and Alice hug her goodbye before driving home.

I tuck a strand of her hair behind her ears before cupping her cheek with my hand – she leans into the touch and closes her eyes. I take that opportunity to lean down and kiss her softly on the lips – she kisses me back and runs her hands up my arms, around to the back of my neck.

When we break apart, it takes all of my strength to hold back those three words I so desperately want to say to her.

Once I get home I text Bella.

Hey, baby.
Just checking in to make sure you got home okay,
- E

She replies almost straight away.

You're sweet. But I'm fine, babe.
You're worrying about nothing,
xx
- B

I laugh escapes my lips at her reply. I shake my head as I write my reply.

You could have passed out and crashed or something,
so I'm not worrying about nothing, thank you very much :P
Have a good night, gorgeous. Stay safe x
- E

She underestimates such serious things sometimes, I don't know what I would do if anything happened to her now that I know that I'm in love with her. She means more than my own life now.

I'm hanging out with Jazz and Em when I hear my message tone go off again.

Sorry, I was in the shower.
You're such a worry wart, but it's cute.
Thank you for being so amazing.
xx
- B

A smile automatically forms on my lips. Maybe Jazz is right? Maybe she is in love with me too?

"You are so gone, man," Emmett says through a chuckle, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"What?" I asked confused.

"He's talking about you being whipped," Jasper explains.

"Oh. Whatever,"

"What, so you aren't in love with her anymore?" he teases.

"Jazz!" I scold him

"What? You're in love with her?" Emmett asks shocked. "Wow, good for you bro," he adds.

"Who's in love with who?" Rosalie asks, walking into the lounge room.

"No one," I answer immediately, I don't need Bella finding out off her or Alice.

"That's a lie," says Emmett with an evil smirk on his face.

"Emmett." I say pointedly.

"What? I'm in love with Rose…" he replies innocently. Fucking prick.

"Aw, well aren't you sweet." Rosalie says in mockingly sweet voice. "What do you want?" she asks suspiciously.

I look over at Emmett to see shock on his face. He looks at me and I give him an expression that says 'suck shit asshole'. He narrows his eyes at me before rolling his eyes and looking back at Rose.

"Nothing, I was just saying…"

"Oh." She says shocked. "I love you too," she adds quietly before walking over to him and sitting in his lap, pressing her lips to his.

Alice ends up joining us after she finally gets off the damn phone to Bella. She goes on and on about how she's going over to Bella's the day before thanksgiving. I thought that Rose would be pretty pissed off about not being invited over as well, but she seems fine enough. When Alice leaves to help Esme with dinner, I ask her about it.

"Are you not pissed you aren't invited?" I ask her.

"No. Why would I be?" she asks.

"Because you're Bella's friend too…"

"So? Bella and I are hanging out this weekend. Just because I don't blab about it to everyone like Alice does, doesn't mean Bella and I never hang out by ourselves too,"

"Alright then, calm down," I say through a chuckle.

"Nosy motherfucker," she mumbles under her breath as she snuggles in closer to Emmett.

We hang out and watch movies and talk for a few hours before Alice comes out to tell us dinner is ready. Carlisle had to work late so he wasn't home. When we finish dinner, we head into the lounge room and hang out some more before I eventually retire and go have a shower. I text Bella goodnight and get one in return before I collapse onto my bed.

My dreams are filled with me telling Bella I love her.

Hey guys, sorry this chapter is so late. I've been really busy and so has my Beta. So i give a huge thank you to my emergency Beta My-Heart-Of-Music for Beta'ing this chapter for me on such short notice. I love you, baby! So this chapter is basically about the gang getting into a routine and having some more fights, Edward being protective for Bella, and Edward coming to terms with his feelings for her etc, etc. Hope you enjoyed it! Reviews make me fluffy inside ^_^ Thank you all so much for reading xx

- Natalee-x