A/N: Alright, folks. We've got 3 regular chapters left and then an epilogue. Updates will either be late Saturdays or Sunday mornings. I've had a massive change in my schedule, and after 3 1/2 years working on third shift, I'm finally moving to first, so things are slightly erratic right now. Huge thanks to my beta, Heather, for her awesomeness, and thanks to all of you for reading/reviewing.

I'd just taken my seat in the cafeteria at the table next to Angela when I heard raised voices coming from a table behind us.

"Just leave it alone!" Lauren growled, and I saw Jessica roll her eyes before she told Lauren to sit down and shut up.

By now, it seemed as if the whole cafeteria was watching them, and neither of them seemed to care. They kept going at it, yelling and hissing at one another, with poor Mike trying to diffuse the situation with no luck whatsoever.

"You're such a slut," Jessica snarled, and my eyebrows practically flew off my face. I knew that Lauren and Jessica had been having issues, but calling your best friend a slut, and meaning it, was pretty damn low.

"At least I'm not knocked up!" Lauren shouted loud enough for the whole cafeteria to hear, and a deafening silence covered the room.

Jessica stared at Lauren with a stunned look on her face before bursting into tears, and Mike wrapped an arm around her and began to lead her out of the cafeteria but not before telling Lauren what a shitty friend she was.

The second the two of them were out of the room, everyone began talking, and I just shook my head at it all. I wasn't a fan of Jessica's, by any means, but I couldn't imagine finding myself pregnant at seventeen and then having my best friend out my condition to the entire school.

"Holy shit," Eric muttered, and I turned back around to look at him. "They're going to be parents!"

It was a slightly terrifying thought, but perhaps it would make Jessica grow up a bit.

"I can't even imagine," Angela said in a quiet voice, and I was in agreement with her. The thought of having a kid at our age was scary. My parents had only been a few years older than I was now when I was born, and it had been hard for them. I had no desire to go through that.

"Me either," I told her in a soft voice, glancing back over at Lauren's table once more.

She was sitting there with her arms folding on the table and her face buried. I had a feeling that she felt like shit for outing her best friend, and I was willing to bet that it would be a long while before Jessica and Mike forgave her.

By the time school had ended, I was sick of hearing about Jessica and Mike, and I just wanted to go home and relax.

Two hours after I'd gotten home, my doorbell rang, and I grinned when I saw Edward standing on the porch.

I opened the door and let him in, placing a kiss on his lips before he'd even gotten all the way through the doorway.

"I didn't know you were stopping by," I said, not that I was complaining.

He shot me a grin before leaning down and placing a hot kiss upon my lips.

"I don't have much homework, and I missed you."

That was as good a reason as any, so we made our way over to the couch, and we soon got lost in one another. We couldn't seem to keep our hands to ourselves, and it wasn't long before our shirts had been discarded and I was straddling his lap.

I was completely lost in Edward's taste and touch, grinding away on his lap, when I was stopped cold by the thought of Jessica and Mike. I had no idea, really, why they popped into my head all of a sudden, but it was like having a bucket of ice water dumped on me, and I pulled away.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Sorry," I told him as I climbed off his lap and curled up next to him. "I suddenly found myself thinking about Jessica, Mike, and teenage pregnancy."

He looked at me with a raised eyebrow, and I quickly explained what had happened at lunch, and he sat back with a stunned look on his face.

"Wow," he said softly before suggesting that we might want to slow down things between us.

"I think we're doing okay. When we decide to have sex, we'll be safe," I told him, blushing as I spoke, and Edward's face flushed slightly, and I could tell he liked the idea of us having sex. Of course, he did. He was a teenage boy after all.

A couple of days later, I was up in room, doing homework, when I heard the front door open, and my heart jumped. I was still a bit nervous about being alone in the house even though the security alarm was set.

"Hey, kiddo!" Dad hollered when he shut the front door, and I sighed in relief before I shouted a hello from my bedroom before telling him I'd be down in a few.

I finished up the last of my math homework and made my way downstairs and into the kitchen where I could hear Dad puttering around.

"I picked up some fried chicken and mashed potatoes," he said as he reached into the cupboard, pulling out a couple of paper plates and passing me one.

As I grabbed a piece of chicken from the bucket, I told Dad about my day before asking about his. He told me his day had been pretty quiet until he'd been called out to break up a fight between Mr. Newton and Mr. Stanley.

"I bet that was fun," I commented, and Dad let out a snort before he got a serious look on his face.

I assumed that I was about to, once again, get a lecture on safe sex, but thankfully, that wasn't about what Dad wanted to talk.

"The lab got back to me about the fabric I'd sent them," he said, and I put down the piece of chicken I'd been about to bite into.

"And?"

"They found DNA that belonged to James. He's already been arrested and booked for breaking and entering," he assured me as I opened my mouth to ask that very question.

"Thank God," I said, sighing as I slumped back in my chair. "Did he say why he broke in?"

"He wasn't saying much of anything. Lawyered up pretty quickly," Dad told me. "His arraignment is in a couple of days, so he's in jail for a while at least."

As soon as I was done with dinner, I tossed my plate away and ran upstairs to call Edward and tell him that James had been taken into custody.

"That's a relief. One less thing to worry about," Edward said a few minutes later after I'd told him the news.

"Has Tanya bothered you at all lately?" I asked him because things with her had been a bit too quiet lately.

I hadn't seen her in a while, and I hadn't given her too much thought recently because I was wrapped up in all the James' drama.

"Nope," he replied rather quickly, and I frowned when he changed the subject.

We talked for a little while longer, and after we hung up, I sat there for a few minutes, debating on whether or not to ask Alice if Tanya had done something to Edward.

Finally, I caved and sent her a text, asking if Tanya had been bothering Edward, and the text I got back from her wasn't reassuring at all.

You need to talk to him, was all she said, and I let out a huff.

I pulled up Edward's number and dialed it, leaving a voicemail and asking him to call me when I got no answer. I was a bit annoyed that he'd lied to me, and I wanted to know what Tanya had done.

A few hours passed with no call from Edward, and I'd worked myself up into a state, and my imagination was in overdrive. All I could think was that she'd done something to hurt him or that perhaps he'd gotten back with her but was afraid to tell me. I knew I was being ridiculous, but I couldn't stop the thoughts from roaming around in my head as I tried to sleep.

A little after three a.m., I got up and went downstairs to watch some television. There was nothing on but horrible infomercials, so I popped in one of my Lord of the Rings movies and blankly stared at it until my stomach began to rumble.

"You look like crap," Eric told me as he walked over to my locker where I was grabbing my books.

"Thanks," I muttered. I was in a foul mood, and I didn't give a crap what anyone thought about how I looked.

"Everything okay?"

"Just peachy," I snapped before letting out a sigh and apologizing to him. It wasn't his fault I was feeling crabby.

"Okay, Swan. What's going on?" he asked, taking me by the arm and pulling me into a quiet corner away from the prying ears of the other students.

I told him I was afraid Tanya had done something to Edward or that he was back with her, and I threw out some other stupid ideas I'd come with when I couldn't sleep, and Eric shook his head and told me I was being ridiculous.

"Am I, though?" I asked. "He told me no when I asked if Tanya had been bothering him, yet Alice told me I needed to talk to him about it."

"And Alice is right," he said in a firm voice. "You need to sit down with Edward and talk to him."

I nodded as I fiddled with the strap of my backpack. I made the decision to go over to Edward's house after school, and I sent Dad a text, letting him know I'd be home before nine.

School slowly passed by, and I spent most of it distracted, practically leaping out of my chair when the final bell rang so that I could race to my jeep.

Close to two hours later, thanks to being stuck behind a logging truck driving half the speed limit, I pulled into the Cullen's driveway and parked. I didn't see Edward's Volvo anywhere, but it could have been in the garage.

I climbed out of the jeep and made my way up the front walk before ringing the doorbell, smiling when Esme opened the door.

"Bella!" she exclaimed as she gave me a hug that I returned. "I didn't know you were coming over."

"Last minute decision," I told her as I followed her inside.

"Well, I'm afraid Edward isn't here, but Alice is upstairs in her room."

I did my best to hide my disappointment from Esme before making my way up to Alice's room and knocking on her door.

"Bella!" she said, looking surprised to see me. "What brings you by?"

I sat down on the edge of her bed as I told her that I was there to talk to Edward.

"Oh, well, I'm not sure when he'll be home," she told me, and I frowned. Her voice seemed a bit off, and I asked her what was going on.

She told me nothing, but I wasn't buying it. I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at her.

"You're lying to me," I stated, and she flushed before looking away.

"You've never lied to me before. What is going on, Alice? Is it about Edward? Tanya? Just tell me something!" I demanded.

She took a deep breath, and I mentally prepared myself for the worst.

"It's nothing, really. A couple of days ago, Tanya was waiting for Edward by the mailbox and he totally ignored her. It's you he loves. Don't ever doubt that," she began, and I nodded for her to continue,

"Anyway, he got out of the car to get the mail, and she attacked him."

"What!" I yelled.

"Not like attack attacked him, but she threw her arms around him and planted kisses all over his face, telling him how much she loved him and missed him, and how she realized that she'd made a huge mistake by pushing him away. He shoved her away and got back in the car as fast as he could," she explained.

"Why didn't he just tell me this?" I asked, collapsing back on her bed.

"I'm not sure, but I know he thinks you have enough to deal with. Plus, he didn't want you to think that he'd enjoyed Tanya's advances."

"Boys are so dumb," I grumbled. "He should have just told me."

Alice nodded her head in agreement, and then something that Alice had said registered with me.

"Did you say he loves me?"

"Of course he does. Just like you love him. It's so obvious," she said, flipping through a magazine that had been on her bedside table.

I sat up and just stared at her, unable to believe what she'd said. How the hell did she know I was in love with Edward? I wasn't even sure that I was in love with Edward. Well that was a big ole lie. I was totally and irrevocably in love with him. I just wasn't ready to admit to Edward yet.

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard Esme tell Edward that I was in Alice's room, and I suddenly found myself extremely nervous. Was I supposed to pretend that Alice hadn't said that Edward loved me? I felt like it changed everything, and that was scary.

"Alice told me about what Tanya did," I told Edward a while later as we sat on the couch in the Cullen's library. "I just don't know why you didn't say anything to me."

Edward pinched the bridge of his nose before looking down at me, and I could see that he was truly remorseful.

"I didn't want you to worry," he told me softly as he picked up my hand and held it. "You had enough going on with James and Jessica. I just didn't want to add more worry."

"I understand," I told him. "But, from now on, though, I want to know if she does or says anything. She has no claims to you, and it really pisses me off that she came after you like that. You could have her charged with sexual harassment."

Edward let out a laugh, but I wasn't joking. She'd made unwanted sexual advances toward Edward, and she obviously didn't know how to take no for an answer.

"I'm serious," I told him, huffing a bit.

"I know you are, sweet girl, but I made it clear to Tanya, yet again, that I have zero interest in her."

"Yeah, but you know she's not going to listen. She never does."

"I'll get a restraining order if I have to," he told me, and I nodded my head. Although, I doubted that would stop her either. The girl was delusional and perhaps a bit psychotic, and I was beginning to think it was time for me to give her a piece of my mind. Granted, I knew that both Edward and my dad would flip out if they even knew I was entertaining the notion of confronting Tanya.