A/N: Thanks to all who reviewed/favorited/followed! All mistakes are mine. I hope ya'll like this chapter! Enjoy. This chapter starts when Edward left Bella at the party.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

"We're being pulled a hundred different directions, but whatever happens, I know I've got you." – High School Musical 3

Chapter 12

EPOV

December 2008

I walk into Emmett's kitchen to find Bella some water and me a beer. All I can see in the kitchen is empty and half – empty red cups. There are so many people here. I guess Emmett never needed to worry about no one showing up. I walk around the kitchen some more and finally I find his refrigerator. I look inside and all I see is bottles and bottles of beer, vodka, and some pretty hard core liquor. I roll my eyes. I guess Emmett doesn't want anyone sober for the night.

I forgo getting drinks, knowing that I have left Bella alone for well over ten minutes.

I walk back to where I left Bella, but I don't see her anywhere. I figure Emmett must have dragged her somewhere. I walk around the house, but still no sign of Emmett or Bella. I walk upstairs to Em's bedroom, wondering if for some reason he took her there. I open in the door without thinking and walk into Emmett shirtless on top of some chick.

Emmett's head whips around as soon as I open the door. "Seriously dude! Didn't your mom ever teach you how to knock?"

I can't help the chuckle that escapes me. "Sorry man, I thought Bella might me up here. Go back to whatever you were doing." I give him a knowing smirk and start to leave.

"Wait, where's Bella?" He asks, concern laced in his tone.

My smirk drops as I realize that if Emmett is up here, he can't be with Bella. Shit. Bella is somewhere at this party all alone. "I don't know. I went to go get us something to drink, but when I came back to find her, she was gone. I thought maybe you found her and took her somewhere."

"Nah man. Rose and I have been up here since she got here." I look around Emmett and notice that the girl that Emmett was dry humping earlier was, in fact, Rosalie.

"I need to find her, Em. She doesn't need to be left alone in a party like this."

Rosalie speaks up for the first time. "Gee Edward. Give the poor girl some credit. I'm sure she's fine. She doesn't need to be babysat the entire time."

I roll my eyes. "You don't know her like I do. I don't want her to be left alone. I need to find her before someone like Tanya does. Sorry for interrupting whatever you guys were doing."

Emmett rolls his eyes. "Give us a sec and we'll help you look for her."

Rosalie glares at him, but nods my way too. "Thanks guys. I'm going to go back downstairs and look for her."

"Alright. We'll meet you there."

I nod and head out the door. I head back downstairs and see a small crowd forming around the dance floor. I dismiss the thought of Bella being on the dance floor and head outside. I walk around the front yard to find her, but stop when I hear a group of people talking about Bella.

"Yeah, the little slut named Tanya told me that the Freak pays Mr. Banner for sex." The guy with greasy blonde hair said. Laughter erupted between the three people talking.

The dark – skinned guy standing beside him says, "I heard that she used to fuck her old math teacher last year, too. I don't understand why the hell people even go near her. I mean, she's just so ugly and nasty. Who would want to fuck that? Nothing, not even sex, is worth touching her for."

My blood started to boil. Fucking Tanya. I walk over to where the little shitheads were talking. I don't recognize any of them, so I assume that they are seniors or something.

"Listen here fuckers, Bella does not pay anyone to have sex. She has never had sex with anyone, especially not her teachers. Stop talking about crap you know nothing about."

"Awe, isn't this cute! The little baby sophomore is sticking up for the Freak. He's probably fucking her too. I didn't think anyone would stoop so low as to go for the Freak for sex." His breath wreaks of beer. He and his buddies' eyes are blood shot. Oh great, they're drunk and high.

"We are not having sex. She is a fucking person not a damn virus. You know nothing about her and if you did, you would know how fucking amazing she is." I look around subtly for Emmett and Rosalie. If this thing gets worse, I could really use some help.

The guy with the blonde hair rolls his eyes. "Listen here, its Cullen isn't it? I think you need to rethink about who you socialize with. There is still time for you to dump the Freak and come be with real people. I mean I know you're knew here and all, but damn, grow some balls and find friends that are fucking normal. You're ruining yourself by being with the Freak."

His comment pisses me off even more. I move closer to where he is standing. I shove him as hard as I can, and to my pleasure, he stumbles into the guy behind him. "You don't know anything about her! She's not an object! She's a fucking person and if you had half the balls I had, you would know that for yourself." I mentally size up the guy and note that he is about my height, but he is built more muscular than I am. His dark – skinned friend looks like a fucking body builder in the making. The girl with them doesn't seem interested in our conversation. She is just staring at her nails like they are the most interesting thing in the world.

The guy I shoved grins wickedly. When his dark – skinned friend helps him get back on his feet, he starts laughing darkly. "You need to watch yourself, kid. This is the real world out here right now. You're mommy and daddy can't help you if you do something stupid like that again."

"The only stupid thing I did was not shove you hard enough to fall flat on your ass."

"I'd watch your tone, boy. You don't want to mess with me."

"Why would I want to mess with guy with a worm for a dick and no balls?" Where the hell is Emmett at?

He glares at me. "Look, I appreciate everything you're doing for the football team this year, Cullen, but that doesn't mean I won't mess up your pretty face."

"You couldn't do shit to me. You're too much of a pussy to do anything." He's goading me and I know it. He wants this to break out in a fight. I glance around once more in search of Emmett, but still nothing.

"I'm trying to play nice, boy. You need to fucking respect your elders. That's how the system works at Forks High."

"I couldn't give two shits about your little system. You keep saying shit about Bella and I'll kick your ass."

"I don't think you know who you're fucking with kid. I could kick your –"

"Oh give the boy a break, James. If he's infatuated with the Freak, let him be. It's his reputation, not ours. Besides, I don't want you to mess his face up. He's kind of cute." The red haired woman said.

"Yeah, James. Why don't you listen to her and stop fucki –"

He turns to face her, his nostrils flaring in anger. "This is between me and Cullen, Vicky. Why don't you let the big boys handle this, huh? Besides, if you think he's so cute, why don't you fuck him instead of me?" She huffs and starts paying attention to her nails again. He turns to the dark – skinned boy next and says, "I think we need to teach him a lesson on how you treat your superiors, wouldn't you say, Laurent?"

Laurent smiles sadistically and says, "Definitely." They both stalk closer to me and I know they're about to make a move. I know I can't win. It's two against one and they are both clearly ready to beat the shit out of me, drunk or not.

I don't back down from them. I can't let them talk like that about Bella and not do anything about it. As they get closer to me, James gives Laurent this look and now they are coming at me from both sides. I realize I need to make the first move or I won't come out of this pretty. I go for James first because he's closer. I make a quick move to step in front of him and punch him in the stomach as hard as I can. He doubles over in pain for a split second and then he's back up again. I feel a pair of arms grab my arms and yank them backwards.

Shit. I forgot about the other guy.

Once James has fully recovered from my one hit to his stomach, he walks to where Laurent is trying to hold me down. "You little shit. You should have left well enough alone and gone when we told you to fuck off. Now, you're going to fucking pay." I barely have a chance to process his words when his fist connects with my jaw. I feel blood rush into my mouth. I spit it out and aim for James' face. My blood infested spit lands right on his eye. He wipes it off and his face grows impossibly more livid.

"You really shouldn't have done that." He tries to bring his fist to my face once more, but at the last second I move to the side and miss his punch. Instead, he punches Laurent in the nose. I hear a crunching sound and he immediately lets go of my arms to grab his face.

"What the hell, James?"

I use this moment of confusion to get away from Laurent.

"Stop whining and grab –" My fist hits his face before he has the chance to finish his sentence.

"Fuck you, James." I hit him two more good times until Laurent finally manages to hold my arms down once more.

James doesn't say anything when he hits me this time. He just repeatedly punches me in the face. He got a few kicks in my stomach too. I keep trying to get out of Laurent's grasp and fight back, but I know it's of no use.

I eventually hear the sound of high heels clicking on pavement. "What the hell did you get yourself into, Edward?" I can hear the concern laced in Rosalie's voice.

"I didn't do shit. These motherfuckers were talking shit about Bella, and I just–" James cut me off by kicking me in the ribs. I can't help the groan of pain that comes out of me when he does it.

"You just what, Edward? You decided to play hero for the Freak? Newsflash Edward, if you play with the Freak, you're going to get its disease."

I glare at her unbelievingly. Is this the same girl who stood up against Tanya for Bella? "Fuck you, Rosalie."

She snorts. I don't realize that James has been checking Rosalie out this entire time.

"It's about time someone else told him about the rules around here. I guess it just had to be done by someone as beautiful as you, Ms. Hale." James says with a seductive tone to his voice.

"James, what are you –"

"Shut it, Vicky. It's time for the grownups to talk now." He turns back to Rosalie. "Is Cullen here a friend of yours?"

"Not a friend, more of a friend of a friend. I can take him off your hands now. I'll make sure to tell him all the rules of the social ladder of Forks High, so this type of thing doesn't happen again." She says sweetly.

"Are you sure you can handle him? He's a bit of a fighter."

"You have no idea what I can handle." She says suggestively.

"Well, in that case, he's all yours. Make sure he doesn't get in my way anymore or next time I won't be so nice."

"Oh, trust me, when I get through with him, he won't even breathe the same air as you, James." And with that, she grabs my arms and drags me back to the house.

"What the hell were you thinking getting in a fight with James? Do you have a death wish?" She whisper yelled as she dragged my sorry ass up the stairs to Emmett's room.

"Like you fucking care! You threw me under the fucking bus last time I checked!"

"Oh please, Edward. Are you really that naïve? Those guys weren't going to let you go if I didn't act like them! I saved your sorry ass from being beaten to a bloody pulp." She pauses. We stop walking and I catch my breath. "Look Edward, I didn't mean to offend you back there. I only wanted to help you."

I snort. "You sure have a funny way of showing it."

She huffs. "Look, you don't have any reason to be mad at me. I saved you from James and I found out where Bella went."

My ears perk up at the sound of Bella's whereabouts. I completely forgot she was missing during my fight with James. I look at her expectantly, but she says nothing. I wait for her to tell me where Bella is, but she never does. We get to Emmett's room and she helps me sit on the bed. I groan at the change in positions.

"James really did a number on you didn't he?"

"I don't care about myself. Tell me where Bella is!"

She avoids the question. "You really care about her, don't you?"

I nod my head. Of course I care about her. She smiles sadly at me and walks away. "Where are you going? And why are you avoiding my question?"

"I'm going to get a towel to get the blood off your face."

I absently move my hand towards my face and I feel the dry blood everywhere. It's all over my face. My nose is still bleeding and I can feel blood oozing out of a cut from my lips. "Damn this hurts."

"You're the dumbass that got in a fight with a drug dealer."

I roll my eyes at her. "I wasn't just going to let him keep talking shit about Bella. I had to do something!"

"I know. I know. Calm down, pretty boy. You're going to give yourself an aneurism."

"Where is Bella, Rosalie?" I seethe out.

"Edward, she –"

Her phone rang and cut her off. "Hey, did you find her? Good. We're up in your room." She glances over at me. "Edward kind of got into a fight while you were gone. Hurry up and get here. He's about to have a panic attack about Bella." She hangs up after that.

"That was Emmett."

"I fucking figure that! Why the hell won't you tell me where Bella is at and why the hell did Emmett leave his own fucking party?" I scream at her. I know she doesn't deserve my anger, but I just need to know Bella is okay and nobody is giving me any answers. I try to get up on my own, but as soon as I get off the bed, I topple over in pain. Rosalie miraculously caught me and made sure I didn't face plant on Emmett's floor.

"Would you sit down? Gee Edward! It's like you have no sense of 'I am seriously hurt and I shouldn't be doing stupid shit like I just did!'"

"Ugh," was the only thing I could croak out. Rosalie helped me sit back on the bed.

"Come on. You need to lie down."

"Like hell I'm lying down in this bed. God knows what you and Emmett were doing up here before I showed up."

She rolls her eyes. "Please. We didn't get a chance to do anything, no thanks to you. Emmett ran off as soon as you said Bella was missing." She says softly.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ruin your night."

She smiles at me. "Don't worry. I'm glad Bella finally has someone to look out after her, even if she did cock block me."

We both chuckle a little.

"I didn't even know that you liked Emmett."

She begins to wash the blood off of my face. She leans in closer. "Neither did I honestly. One day he just walked in my life and now I don't want him to leave. He's a really nice guy. I really need a nice guy, Edward." She whispers. Her tone is laced with pain. I start to ask her what she means by that when I hear a gasp.

Rosalie and I both look to the door at the same time. Neither one of us noticed that Emmett and Bella had walked in on us. I can see the pain on Bella's face. I look back to Rosalie and it's then that I realize what this looks like to her.

I turn back to try to explain to Bella, but I am too late. She is already walking out of the door until Emmett grabs her elbow. She yelps in fright and jerks back. I am already off the bed and moving as fast as I can when I realize what is about to happen. I am only a fraction of a second too late as Bella hits the wall and bounces off.

"Bella!" I yell as she crashes to the floor with an audible thud.

I turn to Emmett. "What the hell did you do to her?"

"I didn't do anything to her man! She's been freaking out like that ever since I picked her up!"

I can feel the anger rolling off of me. "Picked her up? What do you mean picked her up?" I'm fucking seething right now. Why would Bella need Emmett to pick her up? Why not me? I stand up and face Emmett. I get closer to him to the point where we are almost nose to nose.

"Back off, Edward. I was doing the same thing you were doing. Looking. For. Her." He shoves me back gently.

"Where the hell was she that you had to go pick her up from?"

Emmett's face drains of color. "Ed, I don't think you should know."

"What? Why the fuck not?"

Emmett stands up to his full height. He is now towering over me. I forget sometimes how big he really is compared to me. "Because I don't want you to do something that you're going to regret later!"

"What? What are you fucking talking about, Emmett? Just tell me what the fuck is going on. I promise I won't do anything stupid. Besides, it's not like you couldn't stop me if I tried. Just please tell me what the fuck is going on here!"

He glances nervously at Rosalie. What was so bad that they think I would leave Bella to go do something I'd regret? "Edward, she –" Emmett starts, but is interrupted when Bella gasps.

The three of us immediately back off of her, giving her some space. I still stay close to her, in case she needs me. I take in her appearance as she tries to catch her breath. She soaked to the bone and shivering. Fuck, it looks like she's been outside. It was starting to rain when Rosalie pulled me out of my fight. Why the hell was she in the rain? "Em, go get her a towel. She's fucking shivering." I semi yelled at him.

Bella flinched at the sound of my voice. I feel my heart start to ache for her. I have to touch her, to know she's alright. I can't stand being away from her when she's like this. I slowly reach out to place my hand on her cheek and even though she is looking right at me when I do it, she still flinches and pulls back when I make contact with her skin. My heart sank. That hurt. I thought we were past that, but I guess not. I try not to let the disappointment show on my face.

Emmett finally comes back with that towel and hands it to me. "Good luck, man. Every time I come even close to touching her, she freaks out on me. I don't even know what I did!"

I ignore Emmett. She trusts me, I know it. She'll let me touch her, right? I mean, I've always touched her. What's so different now? I reach in to try and towel dry Bella, but before I even get close to her with it, she freaks out and starts trying to scoot away from me. What the fuck? It's like she's trying to hide from us by burying herself into the wall. She keeps moaning in pain, yet no one has hurt her.

I start to take another approach in helping her. "Em, you and Rosalie need to leave. I need to talk to her. Alone."

"Edward, you don't even know what happened! Look Tanya –"

"Stop right there. You were right not to tell me before. I don't want to hit a girl, even if that bitch deserves and right now, Bella needs my help, okay?"

Emmett nods and walks out the door. "Rose, are you coming or not?"

I didn't realize Rosalie that she was staring at Bella. Bella had stopped trying to get away from me and now she and Rosalie are locked in a staring contest. It's like they're having some sort of silent conversation together.

"Rose, come on let's go." Emmett tried one more time.

She gave one more look at Bella and nodded towards her. She walked over to the door where Emmett was standing and said to Bella not to me, "I'll be ten seconds away. Just yell, okay?"

Bella nods, somehow understanding that Rosalie's words were meant for her. I, on the other hand, am confused as hell. Since when are Bella and Rosalie BFF's?

Once Emmett and Rosalie leave, I turn back to Bella. "What happened?"

She shakes her head.

"Bella, I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong."

Once again, she shakes her head. I sigh and look around Em's room for a notebook and pencil. I find one and bring it over to her. "Will you talk to me like this?" I walk back over to her and try to touch her hand lightly, but she flinches back so hard that she hits her head on the wall for the second time tonight.

"Shit Bella! Stop doing that! I'm not going to fucking hurt you!" I yelled at her. A look of panic flashes across her face. I feel bad immediately. I know she doesn't like yelling.

"Bella, hey I didn't mean to yell. I've had a pretty rough night too." I whisper to her. "I will never, ever hurt you, Bella. I swear."

Her face softens and she slowly reaches for the notebook and pencil that I brought to her.

What happened to your face? It looks like you got in a fight with a hammer and lost.

I chuckle at her attempt to lighten the mood. "Yeah, I may as well have been. I got in a fight with a couple of drug dealers actually."

What? Drug dealers? Was it James? He makes sure everyone in the school knows who he is upon arrival, Edward. He's a really dangerous guy. You could've been seriously hurt!

"Yeah, I figured that out." I absently rubbed my stomach with my hand.

Are you alright?

I smile at her concern. "Yeah, I'm fine." I see blood on the wall where her head must have hit. "Are you?" I am suddenly filled with worry.

I'm fine. My head just hurts a little bit. Why?

"Bella, do you trust me?"

I don't know anymore, Edward. I thought I did, but now…

My heart clenches at that. She doesn't trust me. "What did I do to make you not trust me anymore? I thought –"

"What were you and Rosalie doing in here when we walked in?" She whispered so softly I could barely hear her.

"What? You think that Rosalie and I were doing something?

She lowers her gaze. "I just thought that –"

"Bella look at me." I gently grab her chin and pull her face up so she's looking right at me. She still flinches, but she doesn't try to get away from my hand. I put as much sincerity in my words as I possibly can. I look her in the eyes and say, "There is nothing going on between Rosalie and me. There will never be anything going on between her and me. I like you, Bella, you."

"Then what were you doing when we walked in? I thought that you two were about to –" She sounds as if she is about to cry, so I interrupt her.

"Bella, don't even finish that sentence. First of all, I want you. I told you that I would wait for you and that's exactly what I plan on doing, alright? And another thing, Rosalie is in to Emmett, not me. I actually walked in on them earlier." I scowl at the memory. "Let's just say that I'm going to knock very loudly before entering from now on."

Her face lifts slightly. "So nothing is going on between you and Rosalie?"

I place my hands on both of her cheeks. "I swear to you, Bella. The only person I want is you." I try and put as much sincerity as I can into that one sentence. I need her to believe that she is the only girl I want.

"I want to believe you, Edward. I just –"

"Shh. I know. Don't worry about it right now. Let me take care of you." I say, remembering the blood on the wall. "Bella, can I look at your head? I think you're bleeding."

"What?" She lifts her hand to the spot where she hit her head and pulls it back to her face. Blood coats her fingers. "Edward, I – I'm not too good with blood. It makes me –" All the color drains from her face. She looks as if she's about to pass out again.

"Hey, hey, Bella stay with me, okay? I'm going to take you to my dad. He's the doctor who took care of you in the hospital, remember?"

"No, no hospitals." She manages to get out. I can see her eyes rolling to the back of her head. She really isn't good with blood.

"It's okay. He's at home. I'll just take you to my house and he can take care of you there."

She moans.

How am I supposed to get her out to my car? I'm going to have to carry her. It's the only way. She's in no way, shape, or form able to be walking right about now.

"Bella, I need to pick you up and get you out of here. Can I touch you?"

She slowly opens her eyes and tries to nod her head. Good, maybe I've gained a little bit of trust back.

"I'm just going to wrap my arm around your head and under your knees, alright? I'll carry you to my car and then I'll get you some help. You've got to trust me, Bella. I will never hurt you."

"Okay." She mumbles out.

I reach out to touch her, and to my surprise, she doesn't flinch. When I pick her up, she leans in to me and I cradle her to my chest.

I walk down the stairs to find Rosalie and Emmett guarding the entrance. "Hey, her head is bleeding pretty badly, so I'm going to take her to my dad."

"Dude, I'll come with you. I want to make sure she's okay." Emmett says, his tone laced with worry.

"Alright. Come on, we should get going. I have to have her home before 11:30 and it's almost 10:45."

"Okay. Rose will you make sure nothing bad happens while I'm gone?"

"Yeah, don't worry. Just get her some help, alright. Call me if she starts to have another panic attack."

"Another one? When did she have –"

Rosalie interrupts me. "When Em touched her, and she freaked out. If she didn't hit her head, she was on the verge of having a panic attack."

"How do you know about th –"

"I just do, okay?" She says a little angrily. "Now just go get her some help!"

"Okay, we're leaving." I said, becoming a little frustrated.

"Come on, Em. Your car is bigger."

We get to his car and I slip into the backseat, Bella still in my arms. She's not unconscious, per say, she just isn't exactly lucid either. I can barely feel her breathing. The fact that she hit her head twice within a few minutes of each other and now she's not responding to my touch, is really starting to worry me.

"Hurry, Em. I don't want her to pass out on us again." I press a soft kiss on Bella's hair. "Stay with me, baby. Everything's going to be alright. I promise."

I feel her slightly nod into my chest. Her tiny little fingers grab a fistful of my shirt. It's like she is holding on to me for dear life.

When we get to my house, I don't even wait for Emmett to stop and park the car. I am running inside, yelling for my dad. "Dad! Dad! I need you! DAD!"

He walks out of the kitchen where he and my mom were drinking some wine. "What's wrong? Why are you home so early? I thought you were going to be at Emmett's until later?" When he finally sees me with Bella in my hands, he realizes the situation. "What happened to her, son?"

"Dad, please you've got to help her! She hit her head really hard on a wall a couple of times tonight and there was blood on the wall. Then she started freaking out over the blood and just please help her."

"We need to take her to a hospital, Edward."

"No, no hospitals." Bella mumbled out.

I looked at my dad pleadingly. He sighed and said, "Okay fine. Put her in your room and I'll meet you there with some equipment."

"Thank you, Dad."

My mom walks into the room then. "Edward, sweetie what's going on? Why are you caring an unconscious girl around?"

"She's not unconscious. She just needs some help."

"I'll go get her some water."

I walk Bella up to my room and slowly lay her down on my bed. "You're going to be okay now. Don't worry, my dad will take good care of you I swear."

She opens her eyes for the first time since we left Emmett's house. My dad walks into my room at the same time.

"Good, she's conscious."

I roll my eyes. "I told you so."

"Alright son, you need to step back and let me look at her." I do what he says. I watch him take her vitals and look at her head. He wipes the blood away from her scalp to get a better look at the cut. "It doesn't look like you did any permanent damage to it this time. It's only a superficial cut." He tells Bella. "I do, however, think that you need to be more careful. If you hit your head so many times, you can do some real damage to it." Bella nods. "I'll get you some pills for the pain." He walks over to where I am pacing and puts a soothing hand on my shoulder. "You did the right thing bringing her here. Try to get her to calm down and take the pain medicine I am about to give her, alright?"

I nod my head. He walks out the door and I walk over to Bella. I sit down beside her.

"You okay?"

She nods her head. She leans forward and places her head on my chest. I wrap my arms around her and whisper, "Everything is going to be okay. I'll take care of you, don't worry."

"I know."

I hug her as tight as I dare to. My dad walks back in my room and clears his throat. I pull away from Bella. I grab the pain pills from my dad and hand them to her. "Take these, please. They will help."

Bella nods her head slowly.

"What time does she need to be home, son?"

"11:30, why?

"Because it's almost 11:20, right now. You need to go."

"Shit! Come on, Bella."

"Language Edward!"

"Sorry! I've got to go! See you when I get back!"

I grab Bella's hand and we walk as fast as we can down the stairs. I notice Emmett and my mom talking in the kitchen. I completely forgot Emmett was even here. "Come on, Em! I have to get Bella home in," I glance at my phone, "less than ten minutes!"

Emmett shoves a sandwich in his mouth and tries to say goodbye to my mom at the same time. If I wasn't so rushed, I would have stopped and laughed at the sight before me. Instead, I grab Emmett's keys and take Bella to the car. Emmett crawls in the backseat beside Bella. I see him smile his goofy smile at her. She timidly smiles back at him in return.

I drive as fast as I possibly can in order to get Bella home on time. I don't want to ruin my deal with Renee on the first night out. I somehow manage to get her back to her house two minutes before 11:30. I'm pretty sure I broke a couple speeding laws to get her here on time, but hey, we still made it.

I walk to the backseat door and open it for Bella. I take her hand as she climbs out. "I'm sorry tonight didn't go like I wanted it to." I say as I walk her to her front door.

She smiles sadly and says, "Don't worry about it. Shit happens all the time."

I frown at her statement. "Don't worry, I'll make it up to you somehow." Before she has a chance to respond, I peck her cheek quickly and softly guide her inside. "Go." I say before walking back to the Jeep.

Emmett is back in the driver's seat when I return. "You are never driving my baby again. I thought we were going to die from how fast we were going!"

I chuckle. "Don't worry Em. I'll make sure to go extra slow next time I drive with you."

"You better man. You scared the shit out of me tonight."

"Good. Now tell me where you found Bella."

He sighs. "Apparently, she and Tanya got into it at the party. Tanya said some pretty hateful things and Bella just took off running. Oh, and she poured her fucking beer on Bella, twice. I found Bella about three miles away from my house, walking in the freezing cold rain. I was surprised she didn't get hypothermia from walking in this weather. I mean I can barely go outside in sweatpants and a thick coat and not be freezing in this kind of weather. All she was in was a tiny little jacket and some jeans. She must have been free –"

"I get it man. Move on to the rest of the story." I interrupt.

"Okay, Mr. Sassypants."

I roll my eyes at his antics.

"Well I finally found her walking on the road and I got out of the car. She wouldn't even get in the car. I would've taken her wherever she needed to go, but she was just so stubborn. I finally went over to her and I picked her up and she just started to freak out. I put her back down and she continued to scream. I've never seen anything like it, man. I think she has some serious stuff going on if something that simple freaks her out like that."

"I know. I just wish she would tell me."

"She talks to you?"

"A little bit, yeah. I think she trusts me."

"What I would do to make her trust me, man. I just feel so sorry for her. I want to make up for seeing her get teased all the time and never doing anything to stop it. I knew it was wrong and I did nothing. I'm such a bad person." He hangs his head in shame.

"Emmett, you could never be a bad person."

He ignores me and continues with his story. "When she final calmed down, I talked her into coming back to the house and seeing you. She reluctantly agreed and I brought her back. I think you can figure out the rest of the story from there."

We pull up to Emmett's house and the party is in full swing still. I head over to my car and turn to talk to Emmett one last time. "Dude, you are seriously one of the few genuinely good guys in this school. If you want to make something up to Bella, start by being her friend first. She needs all the friends she can get."

He merely nods his head and walks off. I sigh and get into my car. I drive home thinking about everything that happened tonight. I got beat up by a couple of drug dealers. I almost lost Bella. I saw her pass out and have a panic attack. I kissed her again. Several times. Words can't describe how good her skin feels under my lips.

I pull into my driveway and get out. I walk into my house to find my mom and dad sitting at the kitchen table waiting on me.

"Did you get her home in time, Edward?" Mom asked.

"Yeah, we made it. I'm really tired guys. I'm just going to go to bed. Love you guys."

"Son wait." My dad said. "This girl has been coming up a lot lately. Is she important to you?" I feel my face heat up. I'm blushing like a little school girl.

"Yeah. She is."

"She's not going to get in the way of football, is she?" My dad asks pointedly.

I sigh. Of course that's all he cares about. It's all he ever cares about.

"No, she won't."

"Good. I know how hard you've worked for this championship, son. I would hate for a girl to get in the way of your dreams."

My mom answers for me. "Oh, Carlisle, let him have fun with this girl. I need grandbabies someday, you know."

"Ma." I whine.

"Oh, don't ruin my fun."

"But it's not even like that."

She smirks at me. "Not yet at least."

I blush even more. I really need to get that under control. I don't say anything. I just start walking upstairs when I hear my dad call out. "Don't forget the dream, son."

I sigh. I head up to my room and change out of my pants and shirt. I lay in my bed on the side that Bella was on only hours before. I can still smell her smell on my pillow, strawberries.

I fall asleep dreaming of the brown eyed girl that consumes my every thought.

A/N: Thoughts?