Three things seemed to happen simultaneously while Carlisle was speaking. A light breeze ruffled the jacket Edward was wearing, James stiffened, and Edward's brow furrowed in confusion. James tilted his head to the sky, closed his eyes, and breathed deeply before turning his coal black eyes upon Edward.

"You brought a snack," his hissed, his lips curling into a strange grin.

I froze in complete terror. Me. I was the snack -

"Oh, you mean this?" Edward's voice interrupted my frantic thoughts.

 I watched, confused, as he reached into his coat and pulled out a familiar looking red and orange box, shaking the contents of it in James' direction.

"Cheez-Its," James groaned, his eyes blazing with hunger.

The next sequence of events occured so quickly that I almost missed it. James sprang, lunging toward Edward with his arms outstretched. Then, just as he was about to make a grab at the box, Edward whipped it out of his reach and James crashed face-first onto the ground.

"Sorry, but I'm afraid these are for Bella only," Edward explained, not sounding the least bit sorry. In fact, he sounded amused.

I stood completely dumbfounded, my mouth hanging open stupidly. What on earth was going on?

"Oh, Bella!" Alice called from across the field, waving a small green box in the air. "I forgot to tell you, I brought you a snack too! I have Fruit Roll-Ups if you want some."

James pushed himself up off the ground, growling at me angrily. "Fruit Roll-Ups, too? They will be mine," he said, the last word coming out in a snarl. I flinched.

Edward jumped in front of me protectively. "Like hell they will be," he growled. "You'll never have them."

James sank into a crouch, that same horrifying grin twisting his face. "Really? You think so? Would you like to bet on that?" he laughed. The sound sent shivers down my spine.

"Edward," I whispered, my voice quivering. "Maybe you should just let him have the-"

"Absolutely not," he snarled, never looking away from James, who was still crouched predatorily. "Emmett! Jasper!"

Edward's brothers appeared at his side instantly, blocking me from James's view. This was unbelievable. The solution to this mess we now found ourselves in was so simple - yet they insisted on turning it into a fight! Stupid, possessive vampires.

"I suggest you leave now if you value your limbs at all," Emmett threatened menacingly.

James continued his snarling but, seeing he was at a severe disadvantage, reluctantly backed away.

"If you think this is over, you're all fools," he threatened, glaring at us. He motioned to his cohorts, the dark-haired male and the wild female, and they retreated into the dark forest.

"Let's go, Bella," Edward sighed, his voice bleak. He didn't wait for me to respond, just pulled me onto his back and took off running back to the jeep.

Alice and Emmett appeared beside us, following along silently. Once we made it, Edward tossed me into the back seat and then jumped into the driver's seat. Emmett slid in beside me and helped me with the buckles as Edward gunned the engine.

"He wasn't bluffing," he said, barely containing the anger in his voice. "This isn't over yet."

I decided to try and intervene. This was absolutely ridiculous.

"Edward just give him the snacks, please! We can go to the store and get some more later - it's not like these things are hard to come by-"

"No!" Edward slammed on the breaks, turning round to glare at me. "Those Cheez-Its were for you, Bella, and for you only. I'll be damned - no pun intended - if I let James get his filthy hands on them."

"What about the Fruit Roll-Ups?" Alice piped in.

"What about them?" Edward said, uninterested.

"Oh, so if he takes the Fruit Roll-Ups, okay, no big deal, go ahead James. But if he takes your precious Cheez-Its, the whole world comes to an end!" Alice fumed, her topaz eyes narrowed at her brother. "Well let me tell you something Edward Cullen - you may be willing to sacrifice the Fruit Roll-Ups but I am not! Besides, Bella likes Fruit Roll-Ups better than your stupid Cheez-Its anyway, don't you Bella?"

"Uh..."

Her spiky head whipped around and she shot me a terrifying death glare. "Don't you?" she snarled.

"S-sure," I answered meekly, afraid to say anything to the contrary. 

Alice leaned back in her seat, satisfied. "You see?"

I shook my head in utter disbelief. Was this actually happening? It all felt like some bizarre dream. My head spun from the sheer idiocy of it all.

Since when did vampires like human food, anyway?