I got to Port Angeles around 5:20 and practically ran into their one department store, desperate to get some girly girl time. They were already finishing up—Port Angeles didn't have much to offer—but Isabella and Angela had set aside some choices for me. I gave a quick opinion on the dress Jess was trying on, a gorgeous strapless black, and dashed into the stalls to try on the dark violet, low cut dress that Angela had laid out. It had a short skirt and a layer of tulle that swirled prettily around my knees as I jumped up and down trying to close the zipper.

Finally giving up on the purple, I tried on a dark blue of the same style and a white gown before finally settling on a cheap shiny black one with sparkles and a low back. I was saving the big bucks for prom, of course, but I was still pretty happy with what I'd been able to find. The others seemed to feel the same and we headed over for the accessories, Jess finally getting the chance to talk my ears off about Mike. I began to realize that no one else had been quite as enthusiastic as she'd wanted: Isabella tried, but she had been trying to avoid the guy for months now. Angela was a sweetheart, but that meant she didn't get into the nitty-gritty details as much. Lauren was inclined to be jealous of anything. Me? I love gossip and if you have a guy when I don't, all the more reason to get your advice. So I got to chat with Jess while Angela and Isabella had their own little tête-à-tête off by the shoes.

All in all, it was turning into a pretty nice evening.

After shopping Jess, Angela, and I walked back to the car, leaving Bella to wander after some bookshop. Isabella was looking kind of angsty so I hadn't argued when she insisted we didn't need to accompany her: it was flipping Port Angeles after all. The only town smaller would be Forks.

Ugh. I should have known better:

The three of us walked along the piers for a bit, looking at the water and getting a little bored. After about an hour of this, Angela was hungry so we headed over to the restaurant. We waited maybe another half hour, looking around and complaining about our stomachs. Finally, I got sick of it and gradually bullied the others into going in to order. I wasn't too hungry and ended up filling up on a salad and staring moodily out the window as they got their pasta.

"Where is she?" I muttered.

"Is she normally late?" Jess wondered. "You'd know better than us."

"Ha." I said. "Either way, though... she wanted one bookstore and there's nothing else here that could interest her, right?" I frowned. "Unless she ran into someone."

Angela looked worried. "Someone?"

"I meant like one of her crushes." I said. "You know, lost track of time flirting or whatever she does to get them all so... lovestruck." I rolled my eyes and stood up, unzipping my purse. "I'm going after her—and she can eat in the car, if this is what it's gonna be like. Ugh. Grab me some dessert to go?"

"Something chocolate?" Jess asked. She didn't seem to be taking our missing friend too seriously, at least. Maybe I was overreacting.

I smiled back. "Of course."

I made my way to the bookshop and then I stood for a moment, staring at it in disgust. I hadn't really been paying attention to where I'd been going, simply following the direction my sister had gone before I started to just take in the view, but now I was thinking of my sister and I was thinking that there was no way she'd gotten lost in thought in this junky place. With a sigh, I looked around as though I could somehow see which way she'd gone.

Instead I found Edward Cullen.

He glanced up at me as I found him, his face shadowed by the buildings. I had to squint a bit too see him properly—he was standing at the edge of the sunlight and the contrast hurt my eyes—but the look on his face was a little trapped and little sheepish, like I'd caught him somewhere embarrassing.

"Hey, Richard." I called. You know. Cuz he's a dick.

"Um..." He looked even more uncomfortable now, though he did manage a small confused smile. "It's Edward."

"Oh." I said, shrugging. "Sure."

He looked at me, considering. He glanced once behind him, though I couldn't see what he could possibly be looking at, and then he turned back to me. "What are you doing out here, Swan?"

"Oh, just wandering aimlessly." I said with a shrug. "You?"

He frowned at me, clearly frustrated. "Gen..."

I turned away, peering into the bookstore. Maybe there was a back. Maybe Isabella had found some vintage thing or one of those rare books you can only get in backcorner bookstores. Or on Amazon. I sighed deeply: sometimes I think my sister is a flipping Amish. No cell phone. No good computer.

"Actually, could you help me with something?" Edward interjected. He'd walked over to stand beside me and when I glanced up irritably he gave me a brilliantly handsome smile.

I fought off the shiver that fled down my spine. "What."

"I've..." Edward ducked his head, embarrassed, and then gave me the closest thing to puppy dog eyes his Greek god like face could ever reach. "Do you have Bella's cell number? She's in my biology and..."

"Bella doesn't have a cell." I grumbled. "Besides, couldn't you just ask me to tell her?" I snorted. "If I ever find her."

"Find her?" Edward asked politely. I looked over at him irritably: there was bit too much interest in his face. Jeez, he was such a creep.

"She's probably fine." I told him, turning back to peer into the bookshop. "Probably lying in the back of this lady's place, unconscious, with a broken leg and one of those sliding ladders lying on top of her."

My dickhead companion did not seem to find this funny.

"You're talking about the girl that almost died... what, a month ago?" He said soberly.

"What?" I pursed my lips as a bit of fog appeared on the glass before my face. "Oh, the truck. No, Bella's fine, d—dearie." Inwardly I winced. I really should have just said dickhead. "Literally everything is ready to maim her, but I'm pretty sure she's immortal. A bar fell on her when she was two: if you didn't talk to her for more than-say, three seconds?-You'd never know she had brain damage."

"You're not worried." Edward replied, gritting his teeth as he glared at me. I caught the look out of the corner of my eye and had to fight to keep from running: it was twice as bad as the look he'd given Bella way back on her first day of school. "She's your sister."

"It's Port Angeles." I snapped back, offended. I turned to jab a finger at his chest. "And I don't see what I can possibly do."

"Look for her!" He insisted, his long thin hands sweeping back to gesture at the sunlit road behind him.

"Don't you think I would?" I stormed back. "If I wasn't just as likely to get lost? I mean, you can't find someone in an entire darn city if you're on foot and you don't know even where they went."

Edward stared at me, considering. Finally he relented his glare. "Is there somewhere else she'd want to go?" He asked carefully, like I was an angry bear or something.

"Looking for a better bookshop, probably." I shrugged.

"Well..." Edward considered this. "Well, I thought I saw her earlier going that way..." He pointed south. "So, want a ride? We can see if she's down there."

"Yeah, why not." I said grumpily. It was the last thing I wanted, but my car was about half an hour away at this point. "Lead the way, Cullen."

"Just come on." He sighed.

We walked quickly over to his Volvo and he went for the passenger door. I was confused for a moment, but he was trying to be a gentleman and was now holding the door open for me, waiting impatiently for me to get in his fancy pants car. With a shrug I readjusted my purse, mentally remembering where I'd stowed my pepper spray. Who knew if Edward was the one responsible for Isabella's disappearance? I glanced over at him as I moved into the car. Who knew what this jerk was capable of?

There was a weird flash of some unidentifiable emotion on Cullen's face and then he shut the door. Walking quickly, he strolled over to the driver's side and slid gracefully into the car. "Buckle up." He said quietly, fetching his key.

"Right." I said.

He didn't bother to put his on until he noticed me staring at him quizzically.

We left without another word.

..

We drove around for quite a while, muttering to ourselves about where she might be. He seemed to be thinking along the same lines as me, because he kept turning down streets I noticed as being more attractive or more shopper friendly than others. There wasn't much luck though.

I was starting to feel sick as we went back to the restaurant and then back into the city: the sun was setting and Isabella was lost in the city. If she'd managed that in the daylight, what was she going to get up to now? My hands began to wring each other in my lap and I was biting my lip quite hard by the time Edward noticed I was upset.

"I'm sure she's fine, Gen." He said distractedly, eyeing the sunset with a bit of regret in his expression. "Maybe we can get out and walk a bit, ask if anyone's seen her?"

"True." I said. "People do seem to—"

"NO!"

"WHAT THE F***!"

But he wasn't listening. He was speeding thoughtlessly down the street, his face frozen with fury. It was all I could do to hang on to my seat, terrified and completely confused, as he looked around frantically, almost blindly, for a sign of my sister. I stared at him, pretty sure he'd gone mad.

And why did he even freaking care?

Edward's eyes narrowed and I knew he'd decided where he wanted to go.

People honked at us as he raced and I heard his phone buzzing, buzzing, buzzing. Who could want to talk to him so badly? All I wanted was to get away from him. I cringed at a particularly wild turn and he finally remembered I was there.

"Bad part of town." He explained through gritted teeth. "Just realized, it's the one place we didn't look."

"Oh... k?" I replied. His eyes were wild with anger and a hint of fear. "How bad?"

"What?"

"How bad a part of town?" I said.

He glanced at me, looked back to the road, and then gave me an awkward look.

"Oh, for all the... Fine! Step on it then." I leaned forward, my eyes now scanning the street. "Of all the... Of course, Isabella. Of course, you would go straight for the only dangerous street in town. You are so right, Edward."

He glanced at me, going back to the road again with a nod. "Be ready to grab her... if necessary."

"Um... What do you mean grab-?"

We swung around the last corner and, sure enough, there was Isabella. She was maybe two blocks down and surrounded by a bunch of strange men but it was my sister alright.

"Whoop!" I yelped as Edward did a half donut, spinning the car wildly around as his headlights caught the strangers, freezing them in place. My door was now right beside Isabella and I sat for a moment, caught up in the paralysis of shock.

"Gen!"

"Oh!"

I undid the seatbelt with a hurried click before jamming the door open so hard I heard my knuckles crack. My other hand was reaching for my sister, reaching out and taking her hand as she reached for me, looked toward Edward for safety. My hand wrapped around her wrist and she echoed the movement: for one moment we were sisters, hands bound together as I pulled her toward me, toward safety.

Then we were in the car and she was slamming the door shut.

As one the two of us turned to look expectantly at Cullen.

He stared back at us, considering.

After what seemed like an eternity, the tires squealed again and we took off, fleeing the scene and turning back toward the restaurant.

"Put on your seatbelt." He said abruptly.

My sister and I looked at each other, looked down at my awkward position squashed against the gearshift, and then back at each other.

"Not unless you pull over, d-... Um, Edward." I replied.

Bella fiddled with the seatbelt as he glared at me and then she leaned forward to peer past me.

"Are you okay?" She asked softly.

I stared at her. When I turned to look at Edward I saw that his knuckles were white where they grasped the wheel.

"No." He said.

I raised an eyebrow at him and suddenly I understood. He likes her. She likes him. And I'm... sitting between them in a Volvo. Oh, dear.

To distract myself I pulled out my phone and started answering the five texts Jess and Angela had sent me, letting them know we were ok. I came back into the conversation to find Bella looking rather angry and muttering something about prom. I shook my head and zoned out again, figuring it wasn't important.

"Jessica and Angela will be worried." Was the next thing I actually heard her say.

"Texting them." I muttered. "Dang Amish... person. Amishite? Amishian? Dang it, Isabella."

"Bella." She replied, seeming to only now remember I was there. She turned a little pink, too. I looked up: what had I missed?

"We're back." Edward said suddenly. He seemed wistful and I rolled my eyes. He'd probably wanted to take her to some romantic spot to talk things out but there I was, third wheel sister, sitting right smack between the two lovebirds.

"Awesome." I said, watching Edward start to open his door. "I can finally get the dessert I asked for ten hours-." My phone buzzed with a text from an unknown number and I made a skeptical face when I saw the sender identified in the message.

Bella wasn't listening. "What are you doing?" she asked Edward.

"He's getting out of his car, dumbass." I muttered, staring at my phone. Why was Jacob texting me? How had he even gotten my number? Dad? Maybe Bella. Ugh, I needed chocolate.

I looked up to find myself alone in the car. Completely lost, I looked around and found Edward waiting with the passenger door open. A couple feet further, Bella was explaining herself to the girls.

"I hope you don't mind..." Edward said, giving me a more tolerable, calmer version of his handsome smile.

"What?" I asked.

"If I take your sister to dinner? She should get something to eat. And I think you need some sleep, instead." He shrugged.

I frowned back down at my phone, running a thumb over the screen to wipe away and imaginary smudge. Then I shrugged and slid out of the car.

"You did rescue her, I guess. If you want to join the line of admirers, you go right ahead."

Oh, dude... did he look sorry for me? Why did he look sorry for me? Jerk!

Dick!