Babe I'm Gonna Leave You by Led Zeppelin

"Babe, I'm gonna leave you

Oh, baby, you know, I've really got leave you.

Oh, I can hear it callin' me."

X. Cans

Viviane was not a woman of pleasantries but of hard work. She was a single mom of two kids who handled the food pantry mostly all on her own and was a middle school teacher during the week. She was a woman both Abby and her mother had always looked up to.

When Abby stepped into the food bank, after walking blocks away from her car since the pantry lacked a parking lot, Viviane grasped her in a tight hug. She thanked her profusely for coming and not missing tradition; it was then Abby knew she'd made the right decision to come. Her mom and her would've been doing this for five years this November. Abby was sure her mother was smiling at her wherever she was because she chose to continue their tradition.

After handing Abby a large plastic container of canned foods to organize, Viviane immediately went off to boss some other poor volunteer. Abby snorted at her antics knowing Viviane showed love through reprimanding and big hugs. And as she was stocking the nearly empty shelves of canned fruit, her mind turned to the week she had. It was simple, easy - of course her hatred for Calculus was endless as she remembered her C- on a quiz she had the beginning of this week.

Edward decided it was officially his responsibility to help her with Calculus. And he was a constant her whole week, between classes, studying after school in the library, and lunch. And she didn't mind a single bit. He made her laugh. He made the days easier. She let herself feel completely and utterly vulnerable with him; her chest, her heart, her soul was open to only him.

And she was terrified.

Abby jumped suddenly when a hip checked her own and heard a loud laugh followed by a snort of Viviane saying, "Jeez, who would've thought fruit was so interesting?"

Embarrassed, Abby shook her head and laughed while placing another can on the shelf, "I'm sorry, Viviane."

"So," Viviane cocked a perfectly groomed eyebrow, "who is it?"

Abby shot the older woman a puzzled look, "Um...who is...?"

Viviane shook her head full of white hairs drizzled upon her thick brunette mane and wagged a finger in Abby's face with a provoking smirk, "No one smile's while looking at a fruit can, Abs. So, who is it that's got your mind all boggled up?"

Abby flinched, knowing she couldn't look into Viviane's gray eyes and lie. This woman had a bloodhound nose for trickery. Once Abby witnessed Viviane track down a vendor who schemed her of bags of produce, and managed to acquire each bag that was owned to her...with a golf club in her hands. So, lying to Viviane would prove to be a fatal mistake.

"His name's Edward," Abby breathed out, watching the taller woman smile brightly. "We went on one date, Viv, seriously it's not a big deal."

"Oh, please!" Viviane exclaimed. She clasped a hand on Abby's shoulder and asked, with a grin, "You been listening to love songs recently?"

"Uh..."

"So, that's a yes."

The young girl stayed silent, thinking of the random love pop songs that she played after her date on Saturday night. She almost danced around the room - almost. Dancing was something she hadn't done in a long time, and yet, Edward was forcing that part of her to come out as well. He was bringing her back from the dead, slowly, surely, and soon, she believed she could find Abby again.

"Am I going to have to pull your teeth out to get you to talk, kid? Talk!" Viviane was all smiles, but her eyebrow was raised as if daring Abby to not discuss this 'Edward'.

Abby sighed, a faint smile pursed upon her lips, "He kinda' forced me out of my comfort zone. After the accident, going back to school was..." Abby gulped, "tough." Viviane started to rub the poor girls arm as she continued her story. "But Edward just didn't leave me alone, like he was determined to be in my sad excuse of a life. And then, he was. Just being in school and knowing he's there, it makes it easier for me to be...okay."

"Oh, honey," the woman chortled, swatting Abby on the shoulder twice before placing her hands on her own waist. "You've got it bad, don't you?"

Abby flushed, looking down at the box of cans with sudden interest before whispering, "Yeah, yeah I guess I do."

"Hey," Viviane soft said, causing Abby to look at her with worrying brow and an anxious lip bite. "It's okay to be scared. Love's scary because it's a risk. A painful one but completely worth it. Eh, what do I know? I'm a divorcee with two teenagers." She laughed, causing Abby to let out her own laugh as well.

Shaking her head, Abby smiled and apologetically said, "I'm sorry; I'll stop daydreaming and get back to work."

"Hey, if he's a fine young man, daydream while doing your work."

"Deal."

And fine he was.

"Alright Abby, I think you've officially stocked your last shelf for the night," Viviane grinned, walking up to the girl with her arms crossed over her chest.

"I really don't mind staying a bit longer!" Abby stated while brushing off some dust on the oversized red plaid shirt she chose to wear.

"Come on, it's a Saturday night. I'm sure you've got some plans to get to," Viviane raised an eyebrow and slyly added, "Maybe some with Edward."

Abby rolled her eyes dramatically while tilting her head backwards, and Viviane let out a loud laugh at the girls reaction. She did not have plans for the night, in fact she was planning on finishing up all her homework so that she could enjoy a lovely study date with Edward on Sunday morning. But of course, she wouldn't be telling Viviane that.

"Very funny," she released a sarcastic smile. "I'm just going to go cook some dinner for Jay and I."

"How's he liking the Forks police force?" Viviane wondered, leaning against the fully stocked shelves.

Abby shrugged, "He liked Seattle more; it was more exciting to him. And I think taking over dad's position makes him feel a certain way, like he's gotta' be as good as our dad was."

"Hey," Viviane smiled tenderly, "there's not a doubt in my mind that I'm sure he's making your Pop proud."

Abby nodded, and with a small smile said, "I know he is."

After a few more moments of chatter, Abby left the food pantry right before the sky darkened to black. But of course with the greying clouds in the sky, it was dusky enough for it to be called twilight. Abby walked into the dooming dark and released a breath of air when she realized just how crisp the night had become. She could see the mist her breath created each time she breathed too hard.

Her car was a few too many blocks away and the world started to get darker with every step she took. As much as she loved Viviane and the pantry, the food bank was placed in a severely isolated part of town and the west side of the street lacked a sidewalk. It was covered with a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire protecting where an old dump was, more so where everyone disposed of their cars after they've reached their lifeline.

A rapid and sudden chill shot up her spine that she knew wasn't due to the cold weather and caused her to look slightly over shoulder. She held in a gasp when she saw two men walking about fifteen feet behind her. Abby hadn't noticed them; she had no idea where they came from but was aware of a bar a few streets north of the food bank and assumed that's where they came from due to their staggering steps.

She quickened her pace, silently telling herself that she didn't know if they were following her or not. For all she knew, they could've been walking to the one of the apartment buildings littered in the area where she had parked her car. The street was empty which was rather surprising on a Saturday night and entirely unlucky for Abby. Not a car in sight. Their footsteps quicken along with hers and she panicked.

Abby then attempted to sprint as fast as she could to her car, using her flight instead of fight, but knew it was still three long blocks away. She heard the sound of long strides behind her and thought of dropping her purse, knowing she had nothing valuable in there other than her dead cellphone and a few bills.

But something told her they weren't following her because they wanted money.

Her ragged breaths turned into pants hearing the two men behind her accelerate their paces. They were so close to her; they were so fast compared to her. Abby wouldn't be able to outrun two men but she had a good scream - a loud shrill scream. One loud shrill scream would help her. She sucked in a deep breath, prepared to scream out 'fire' when a hand lurched forward and grabbed a fistful of her hair.

Before she managed to emit a single sound, an arm wrapped around her waist holding her down tightly and one hand was clasped over her mouth. She screamed against his disgustingly rough, clammy hand and fought the other one away with her arms that were still usable. The one holding her hair released it and wrapped his arms around her middle, rendering her own arms useless.

Tears blurred her vision as she continued to yell but it was muffled due to his harsh hold against her mouth.

"Don't be like that, sweetheart," the one holding her mouth whispered into her ear then proceeded to softly lick her earlobe with his slippery, wet tongue. Abby screamed as loud as she could against his hand fearing for her life but once again was forced to be silent. They were attempting to drag her across the street but she was putting up the fight of her life.

She was kicking away the other one away, trying to get a good aim at his groin but he dodged every single one of her kicks. She wouldn't stop; she was trying to see what they looked like if she was miraculously let go. One had a Dodgers baseball cap covering his head and she couldn't see the one holding her mouth. Tall, 5'10", a marking on his neck - a tattoo of some sort, brown eyes. She lifted her leg to kick him away harshly, her pleas for help still silenced but felt a slight ray of hope when she saw the man with the baseball cap stumble onto the ground.

With him on the ground, Abby quickly used her hands against the one holding her waist and mouth. She was trying to desperately pry his hand off her mouth while using another hand to push his face away from hers. But he was fast enough to replace his hold on her waist to around her arms and tucked her body into him, her mouth still stifled.

Headlights suddenly flew around the corner onto the empty street, and blasted its light upon the man holding Abby. The man clinging onto her against her will froze when he saw Edward Cullen step out of the drivers seat of his silver Volvo entirely too fast for human eyes to capture.

It was astonishing how instantaneously her crippling fear disappeared, how safe she truly felt just seeing his face.

Edward wasn't looking at her but at the man who still had an arm around her waist, though it had gotten limp. She had never seen him so enraged, so feral. He was rigid; his eyes were coal black. A color she'd only seen once accompanied with bruising under his eyes that he blamed on lack of sleep. Abby knew his eyes weren't black now due to lack of sleep.

"Get in," he furiously commanded, and Abby didn't have to be told twice. She pushed away the man's revoltingly grabby hands off her and hurriedly went to the passengers seat door, opening it and slamming the door behind her.

Abby's breath rattled in her chest, desperately attempting to even it. Her hands shook with fear on her lap, so she clasped her hands together in hopes of stopping the trembles. She looked up to see Edward's back as he slowly crept upon the two men. The one on the ground had gotten up and both of them looked prepared for a fight.

She drew in a sharp gasp when she saw Edward move so astonishingly fast that if she blinked she'd miss him and then, the two perpetrators were on the ground groaning in obvious pain. He had disappeared, only to reappear so suddenly that Abby felt like she had whiplash. He picked up the men, one with each hand as if they had only weighed ten pounds each, and collided them against the sidewalk beneath them. Abby flinched when she was certain she heard cracks and could only hope they were due to the sidewalk breaking.

And she swore, she had heard Edward growl.

He had to stop, he wasn't a murderer; at least, she hoped he wasn't a murderer. But she knew him well enough to know that he'd be bothered if he ended up killing them - no matter how much they deserved it. No, she thought, no one - not even rapist douchebag scum - had the right to die before it was their time to.

She gulped, before letting out a faint whisper that she knew he'd hear, "Edward."

Edward stopped his assault on the two when he heard it, the blood pouring from their wounds not bothering him in the slightest, and turned to look at Abby sitting in the passenger seat. And every feeling of utmost rage vanished completely when her saw her mangled dark chocolate hair and her reddened tear stained cheeks. His eyes softened considerably at her tender face and berated himself deeply for arriving so late.

Then, she did something that quivered him to his very core. She glanced at the two unconscious men and shook her head.

He clenched his jaw and gave her a slight nod, immediately making his way to the drivers seat without as much as a glance at the two despicable humans at his feet. Edward got into his car, shut the drivers door, and glanced at Abby's harrowing expression. He reached over her and she allowed him to snap her seatbelt shut for her as she truly felt as though she couldn't move.

Edward didn't lean back into his seat but stared into her frightened eyes, not sure if it was for the experience she had went through or because of him - maybe both. But he took it as a good sign that she didn't cower away when he lifted his hand to brush away a single tear escaping her eye. Edward cupped her cheek in his palm, pulling her head toward his own and placing the smallest, the most delicate kiss upon her intoxicating lips. If he hadn't made it in time, he was sure he would've lost his will to live because he would've lost her.

He pulled back so quick, Abby wasn't even sure it happened. But she felt the slight tingles upon her lips, a beautiful contrast to the asshole's sweaty tasting hand and rough hold. He put the car in drive and swiftly sped out of the street. But if there was one thing she was sure about, it was that Edward Cullen was a vampire. A vampire she was so insultingly, so awfully in love with.

A vampire that she couldn't be with.

A/N: Yeah. I know. I know. I really left it at that. But alas, the drama has begun to unfold. What do you think she's going to do with this revelation?

Also, isn't protective Edward just *heart eyes*.

Just so you guys know, this chapter was supposed to be up a lot sooner. It really boils my blood thinking about why it wasn't uploaded when I said I would upload. For whatever reason, my computer just chose not to save this chapter and I spent all weekend rewriting it. I'm still not proud of this one if I'm being honest. *sigh* it's okay, this is as good as it gets.

Anyways, my lovelies, review, favorite, follow - love y'all *kisses*.