LL Chapter 27

LL Chapter 27

Her answer

I should have known that my ignorance would come back to bite me in the ass with Bella. I shoved the umbrella in her hands and started pacing on her porch in the rain, "Bella, I am ashamed to admit that for many years I've lived under the ignorant notion that the only thing that the girls in this town aspired to was to get married and have a baby, and not necessarily in that order. Then a few weeks ago an amazing woman, who happened to be a teen mom came into my life and challenged every ignorant, boorish, moronic, offensive notion that I had about teen moms and teen girls in general. Not only did she storm into the NICU I work at and punch me, but she stormed into my life and turned my world upside down and changed me for the better. You challenged everything I thought that I knew about life and showed me my ignorance. You never care what anyone else thinks about you and no matter what they do to you, you continue to hold your head high and continue with your life. You have had so much shit thrown at you, but you kept following your dreams and living life. I am in keep awe of you all the time. I am falling completely head of heels for you and for Tanya. The two of you have become the most important people in my life."



"Oh, Edward. Yes."



"Yes?"



"Yes! I'd love to be your date for the fundraiser. I just needed to hear from you that you know that you understood that my daughter and I are a package deal. You don't get me without her too."



"I know, Bella, I know you are a package and that is absolutely fine with me. I adore your daughter just as much as I adore you. Just because this date won't include her doesn't mean that I am not already considering things that the three of us can go together."



"Really?"



"Yes, really."



At that point, the Chief Swan poked his head out of the door, "What are you two doing standing out here in the rain?"



"Hey dad, uh…Edward just asked me if I would be his date to the hospital fundraiser."



"He did?"



"Yes, I did."



"Well, Hell! That means that Leah owes me fifty bucks! You just made my weekend, Edward!"



"Why does Leah owe you money because Edward asked me out?" Bella asked narrowing her eyes at her father, who cowered a little bit. It was such a funny sight to see a man that carried a gun cower from a small teenage girl, that I had to look away to keep from laughing.



"Don't get all hyper. She and I just had a little bet that's all."



"What was this little bet about?"



"Well, sort of on whether or not Edward was gay," that made my head shoot up, "I said he wasn't. That he was just smarter than any of the other little hormone driven fools around here and he was just waiting for the right girl to come around."



"See, that's what I told you. Only he said it a lot better than I did. I had better get home and you should get out of the rain before you get sick. Good night Bella. Night Charlie."



I heard them both respond good night back as I started to return to my car. I was sopping wet and freezing to the bone so I cranked the heat and watched Bella and Charlie disappear into the house. I do not remember how I actually made it home, one second I was pulling out of the Swan's driveway and the next I was pulling into mine. I could not believe that she actually said yes. I fell into bed with the most amazing sense of calm that I had felt in a long time.



When I entered the kitchen the next morning, Mom was making waffles, Dad was scrambling eggs, and Alice was cutting up fruit to put on the waffles.



"It's about time you got out of bed, sleepyhead," Mom teased me; "You can make the fresh juice." I grabbed the bag of oranges, a knife, and the juicer and set to work. I loved fresh juice much more that the juice you buy at the store so I really did not mind all the hard work it takes to make it. Besides, while it was a task that kept my mind busy it left my mind free to wander to thoughts about Bella.



As we sat eating our breakfast, Dad turned to Alice, "I need to know how many tickets I need to order for the fundraiser, is Jasper joining us again?"



"Yes he is."



"Ok, so that's five tickets."



"Six Dad," I spoke up after swallowing a bit of waffle.



"Six?"



"Yeah, Last night I asked Bella to be my date and she said yes."



All three of them just sat there staring at me as if I had grown a second head. After a moment, Mom smiled at me and then looked at Dad and said, "Six it is then." I knew that this was not going to be the end of the discussion. I knew that Mom and Dad would want to discuss the ramifications of dating someone with a child. There was nothing they could say to me I had not already thought of. I was already attached to Tanya and I would like to think that Tanya was becoming attached to me too.



I volunteered to wash the breakfast dishes because for one, all I had really done this morning was the juice and two; I knew that it would get me out of doing the dishes after dinner later tonight. I was scrubbing the waffle maker when Alice hugged me from behind, "Oh Edward, I'm so happy that you are going out with her."



"I thought that you were all for me going out with Angela?"



"All I have ever wanted was for you to be happy, whether it was with Angela or Bella or whoever."



"I am happy. I guess you could say that she's the one that I was waiting for. What about you and me hanging out this afternoon? Just us? We haven't done that in ages. Maybe drive up to Port Angeles and catch a movie?"



"Ooh, twin time! You're on brother dear," and she ran off to change while I finished the cleaning.



A/N:



Ok. First things first, to the person or persons responsible for recommending Living Life for 'fic of the week' over at the lemonade stand, this is me tackling you to the ground and smothering you with hugs and kisses. I love my readers so damn much. And the response to the last chapter was nothing short of amazing. The link will be on my profile.



For those that are FYH readers the chapter is coming along. It's about half way through at this point. I am going outside my comfort zone with that chapter. Next chapter of LL, maybe tomorrow.

LL Chapter 26

LL Chapter 26

Dinner and Bowling and Stalkers…oh my!

The next morning Bella was surprised that Alice was not in the car with me when I arrived to pick her up for school. I told her that Alice usually drives herself to school on the days that she has to work. That is unless she has plans with Jasper afterwards. My sister being my sister we still beat her to school. We were all sitting on the picnic table again, waiting for the bell to ring when she finally arrived.



Bella asked Alice immediately about joining a Judo class together and Alice damn near busted all of our eardrums with her squealing. She was talking a mile a minute about where to take the class what nights worked best for her, stopping for dinner after classes, etc. Bella took a step back in her surprise at Alice’s overzealousness and bumped into Jasper who was walking up behind her, “Ok, who set her off?” he asked.



We all pointed at Bella who started stammering, “I didn’t know…I just asked…it was his idea…” she ratted me out. I explained about the Judo class and Jasper just laughed and then grabbed Alice’s hand and started leading her away amid complaints from here that she and Bella still needed to discuss specifics. He knew that there was only way to really shut her up and he also knew that I did not want to have to watch the two of them kissing.



At lunch, I reminded Bella that while I would still be picking her up for school in the morning, I would not be able to drive her home as I was scheduled to work at the NICU. Alice volunteered to take her home but Bella asked that she drop her off at our dad’s office. He wanted to check her wrist again and see if she was able to resume driving again. The idea that Bella would not need me to pick her up anymore was depressing to me.



Rose must have noticed the change in my attitude because she changed the subject to something that I had texted her about this morning, “Ok, we need to talk about Saturday and the driving arrangements.” I had thought about offering to pick up Bella for the dinner but then I thought that that could make it seem date-ish and could end up scaring Bella.



“I have to be at the hospital on Saturday afternoon til three so I thought that I would just bum around PA until it was time to meet for dinner.”



“Alright girls, I was thinking that we could make an afternoon of it and go for mani’s and pedi’s before dinner. How does that sound?”



The first person that spoke up surprised us all, “I’m so in. I haven’t done that in so long. It will be nice to do something girly again,” Bella sighed.



“Are you kidding me?” Rose laughed, “You are the one that I thought that we were going to have to drag out of the house kicking and screaming!”



“Oh no,” Bella replied, “My friends and I were always getting our nails done in Phoenix. I like to do girly shit; it is just harder to get time to do it these days with a newborn. But I know Dad will be absolutely thrilled about it he has this thing about me still being young and having fun.”



After Angela and Alice agreed to the pre-dinner excursion, it was agreed that Rose would be driving the girls and Emmett would be picking Jasper. Ben who had to work Saturday too, was going to drive himself as well.



Saturday afternoon I arrived at the NICU dressed a little better than I normally would and the two nurses on duty that afternoon were enjoying teasing me about the ‘hot date’ they were sure that I had planned. The irony was that I wished that it was a real date and not just a group dinner. The fundraiser dinner was now two weeks away and I did need to ask her soon if she was going to have time to find a dress and a babysitter for the night. I resolved in my mind that I was going to ask her tonight…well this weekend…definitely this weekend…maybe…



After my shift was over, I roamed aimlessly around Port Angeles until it was time to meet everyone at the restaurant. Emmett loves the Japanese restaurant in town so that is where we had reservations. When the showed me to the table I deliberately took the seat on the end. My goal was to get Bella to sit next to me and Angela hopefully would be at the other end.



The girls were the first to show up as they approached the table I saw Angela pick up speed as if she was going to beat everyone to the table and get the only seat next to me. Rose, bless her heart, stopped her and started fidgeting with Angela collar as if it needed fixing. Meanwhile Bella and Alice continued toward me. To my immense surprise, Bella automatically took the chair next to me. That had to be a positive sign that she liked me, right?



When the waiter came to take our order, I was surprised when Bella ordered a diet coke with grenadine and I raised my eyebrow at her, “While your father was checking over my wrist Wednesday, I got him to give me permission to have some treats tonight. I get one soda and fried rice!”



“So the blood pressure is doing better?”



“It’s still a tiny bit high but it is a lot lower than what it was. It’s considered borderline hypertension right now, but your dad said that since I am always so strict with my diet, I deserve to have a treat every now and then. So, what are you going to get?” she looked back at the menu, “I am totally going for the steak and shrimp combo.”



“I guess great minds really do think alike because that is exactly what I was going to order.”



Angela who, sullenly, ended up half way down the table was desperately attempting to get my attention throughout dinner. Rose had texted me when they sat down that Angela had asked how to get me to ask her out. Rose told her, again, that I wasn’t interested and it wasn’t going to happen. Angela just shrugged her off and muttered something about how she was just going to have find a way to be more obvious. As if she hadn’t been completely obvious to this point. The only way she could be more obvious would be asking me out directly. What really concerned me was that Bella had lost all of her friends over what happened in Phoenix and I did not want her to have to deal with anyone else turning on her because of me. But damn it, we both had the right to be happy and whether or not Bella had ever come to Forks I was not going to ever consider going out with Angela.



Angela was getting more and more annoying throughout the meal trying to get my attention. Rose whispered something in Angela’s ear, to which Angela rolled her eyes, and then she asked Bella if she wanted to switch seats with her and I couldn’t help but laugh when Bella replied, “No thanks. I’m fine right here.”



As the dinner progressed Rose pulled out a camera and started snapping pictures of everyone. At one point she had Emmett come to our end of the table and stand behind us so she could get one of the three of us.



After Rose and I settled the bill, Bella agreed to ride over to the bowling alley with me. I stood up taking Bella’s hand and pulling her up with me and told everyone that we would meet them there and then we hightailed it out of the restaurant before Angela could invite herself along.



I had to stop at the gas station on our way to the bowling alley so while I pumped the gas she called her dad and checked up on Tanya. The other managed to beat us there and thankfully Ben was managed to distract Angela into a conversation with him. We grabbed two lanes and decided to pair up and play two couples per lane. We were going to switch up each game where winners play the winners and losers played the losers.



Of course I managed to claim Bella as my partner. Our first game was against Emmett and Rose. There was no way that we were going beat them, they were here so often they were on a first name basis with the shoe rental guy.



It became obvious that Bella had never been bowling in her life when on her first turn up she got really excited when she managed to knock down one pin. She threw, and I mean threw, her ball down the lane two times and only managed to get one pin and what ecstatic about that? One the second frame, she managed to throw the ball behind her hitting Emmett square in the gut so hard that he fell to the floor with the wind knocked out of him. She was so horrified that she was about to start crying until Rosalie fell to the floor laughing her ass off at the whole thing. Professional bowling was not in this girl’s future that was for sure.



After that spectacular loss to Emmett and Rose we had a few minutes to wait for the others to finish their game so we wandered over to the snack shop. Bella and I both got unsalted soft pretzels and, well, Rose and Emmett each got what only could be considered another meal with burgers, fries, and candy. We took the food back to the where our lanes were and waited our chance to start another game.



Alice and Jasper ended up losing to Angela and Ben by two points. The girls decided that a small bathroom break was needed before we started the next game. When the girls returned Angela appeared upset about something but I didn’t really care. What I did care about was that Bella looked a little agitated. When I asked her what was wrong she smiled and told me it that nothing and she seemed fine after that. But something must have happened or something was said in that bathroom.



Jasper and Alice managed to annihilate us quite well as well. Although in Bella’s last frame up she shocked all of us, herself included, when she managed a strike. It was so cute how excited she got; she was jumping up and down screaming “I did it! I did it! Look what I did!” Then she ran at me, jumped in my arms, and gave me a big hug. Then she proceeded to hug everyone else in the group, including Ben, dashing my hopes that the hug was another sign that she liked me.



We decided to take another small break between games again. Bella, Rose, and I stayed at the lanes while everyone else ran to either the bathroom or the snack bar. When Bella could not stop yawning I asked her if she was tired and wanted to go home.



“I am tired, but Rose is my ride and I don’t want everyone to have leave early because of me.”



“I’m ready to call it a night myself so I could drive you home,” I offered.



“Really?”



“Really.”



“Let’s at least say goodbye to everyone and wish Emmett a happy birthday again before we go.”



“I’ll tell him for you. You guys need to get out of here before Angela gets back.”



Ok, I thought on the way to the car. It was time for me to man up and just asked her. I had made sure that I was a perfect gentleman all night and very attentive to her. I must have opened my mouth to ask her a dozen times on the ride home but I could not get myself to speak the words. If I asked and she said no the rest of ride home would be very uncomfortable.



Then the perfect opportunity presented itself. We were just entering the city limits of Forks when it started raining…again.



“Damn it!” Bella complained, “I left my umbrella in Rose’s car.”



“I guess that just means that I get to walk you to the door again.”



“You don’t have to Edward.”



“I know I don’t have to, I want to. There is a difference.”



When we pulled into her driveway, I grabbed my umbrella off the back seat, ran around the car to open her door for her and started to escort her to the porch. I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her close to me to ensure that she was under the umbrella with me. Yeah, that’s the only reason I did it.



“Déjà vu,” she said as we reached the door.



“What?”



“It’s déjà vu. I mean didn’t we just do this the other day?”



It was now or never I thought, “I would do this for you every day, Bella.”



“You would?”



“Yes. I would. Bella, I need to ask you something.”



“Ask away.”



“The hospital fundraiser is coming up in two weeks…and …uh…I wanted to know if you would be my date.”



“Like a real date?”



“Yes, a real date.”



“You want to go on a date with me? Even though I am a teen mom?” And at that moment, I thought that I was going to throw up everything I ate tonight, right here on her porch.



A/N:



Yes. I ended it there. I’ve never done a cliffy before. BUT, I am going to do something else that I have never done before and I will probably never do again. I am offering a bribe in exchange for reviews. I wrote a 750 word drabble from Rose’s POV and anyone that reviews will get that. I want to keep this story completely EPOV but I couldn’t help writing this. It’s something that he is not present for. OH! And Bella’s answer is in the drabble. The next update won’t be til Monday, probably, because I really need to work on the FYH update and we are celebrating my mom’s birthday this weekend. She’s finally old enough for Medicare! She’s excited to have health insurance again!

LL Chapter 25

LL Chapter 25

On the Road Again.

Monday morning the whole town was still talking about Lauren and Mr. Stanley. As Lauren was found with cocaine not only in her purse but in her system she was up on drug charges as well as solicitation. Chief Swan had told Bella that her family was working on a deal for her to go to a rehab facility in Seattle instead of jail, where she was still sitting as her family refused to pay her bail. Mr. Stanley was released Sunday night but was currently staying in a hotel in Port Angeles as both his wife and Jessica had come down to the jail and yelled at him. They had brought him a bag of clothes and told him not to come home. Mrs. Stanley had decided to file for a divorce. Jessica was not in school today either.



That afternoon Bella and I were traveling up to Port Angeles together to go to her therapy appointment. I was not about to waste this rare chance to spend time with her alone and have her undivided attention. I used my time wisely to get to know who she is beyond being an overachieving student like me and an amazing mom to Tanya.



“How is it that I have lived in this town all my life and never met you? You had to come visit your dad right?”



“I only saw him two weeks in the summer and alternated Thanksgiving and Christmas with him. The two weeks in the summer we traveled and neither holiday was warm enough for me to want to venture out of the house.”



“Not a fan of cold weather?”



“Not one bit, but I will get used to it, I guess. It’s not like I have much choice in the matter.”



“I didn’t know that the Chief was such an extensive traveler. So where did the two of you go? I know he’s an avid fisherman but I really don’t see and the fishing and camping type.”



“That’s one of the great things about my dad. I know that he doesn’t make much money but he would save every penny that he could so that he could make the two weeks that he got to see me as memorable as possible. I’ve known that I wanted to be an architect ever since was eight. That was the first time that he was able to take me to Europe. He’s taken me to Europe every year since. Well, except for the summer when I was fifteen.”



“Where did he take you that year?”



“He had just married Sue and since he only gets two weeks of vacation time a year he made it a joint honeymoon with Sue and a family vacation for all us of to Jamaica.”



“Charlie seems like an amazing father.”



“Oh he is. He’s the best.”



We talked a little more about our childhoods, but the closer we got to Port Angeles the quieter Bella got, so I stopped asking questions as she seemed to be getting lost in her own head. When I pulled into the parking lot I asked her if she wanted me to come in and wait for her in the waiting room. She told me that she was fine to go in by herself, so I told her that I would be waiting at the diner across the street. She took a deep breath, like she was attempting to calm herself, got out of the car and disappeared into the building.





An hour later she sent me a text saying that she was done. The drive home was a lot different than the ride up had been. She seemed incredibly agitated and annoyed now, “I know you just spent an hour talking to a therapist, but if you do want to talk about it, I’ll listen. I mean you just seem really upset about something.”



“I’m aggravated, but I’ll be fine.”



“Are you sure? I’m always here to listen if you ever need to talk, you know that right?”



“It just completely stupid for me to be frustrated about it, because I really don’t want to remember what happened.”



“Oh, you mean when they…uh…”



“You can say it, Edward, when they raped me. When they decided they had the right to destroy my whole life,” she snapped at me.



“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”



She buried her face in her hands and I could her crying and mumbling, “It’s not fair, it’s just not fair,” so I pulled the car over to the side of the road. I tentatively reached out and touched her head and started stroking her hair in a blind attempt at calming her. I had no experience with this and I had no idea if I was doing the right thing or possibly making things a lot worse.



It must have been the right thing, because after a few minutes of crying she finally started calming down. She reached into her purse and grabbed out some Kleenex and then she totally surprised me by leaning over and lying her head on my shoulder, “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to snap at you or lose it like this, you don’t deserve to have to put up me.”



“It’s fine Bella. I really want to be here for you if you need me, anytime that you need me.”



She sat up and I reluctantly let her scoot back to her seat, “I don’t get it, Edward. You were a complete asshole when we first met, I don’t understand what brought on this big change in you.”



“I’m an asshole to most people, Bella. I don’t let too many people get close to me because I don’t want anything tying me to this town. But I wasn’t expecting to meet you. You are so damn strong and smart and amazing and you made me completely reevaluate everything in my life in such a short time.”



She sighed and looked down at her lap, “Part of me hates that I don’t remember the things that were done to me and part of me is so damn happy that I can’t remember and will never be able to remember. Everyone says that I am lucky to not remember and I do agree with them. I mean, there are so many rape victims that I have met in group in Phoenix that couldn’t even shake anyone’s hand. I don’t have that problem. People can touch me and I don’t freak out and I am so grateful for that. I have no business being frustrated about not remember but I just can’t help it. I know I sound psychotic.”



“I don’t think that you sound psychotic. I think that I can understand to an extent and you are entitled to be just as angry and frustrated as you want.”



“My therapist said the exact same thing to me. She suggested I find a way to work out my frustrations physically.”



“Like hitting someone? I think you great and all and I want to be there for you, but, honey, I been on the receiving end of your fist and it’s not something I wish to experience ever again. I will volunteer Emmett though; the boy needs some sense knocked into him most of the time,” which got her to start laughing.



“That’s one of the reasons I like hanging out with you. You make me laugh and not many people can do that these days. But, what she was suggesting was that I try to get into an exercise class like martial arts or boxing. Your dad told me to start considering joining a gym on my last appointment. It would be good for my heart.”



“You know Alice has always wanted to take up Judo but had no one who would go with her; I bet she’d go with you if you asked.”



With the plan in motion that she would ask Alice in the morning about starting Judo together, I pulled back onto the road and we continued on our back home. It was pouring hard when we reached Forks and Bella was rummaging through her bag and swearing because she forgot to pack her umbrella.



“I have one in the back seat.”



“If I take your umbrella then you won’t have one to use. I’ll be fine”



“Well, then, I guess I’ll just have to walk you to the door because we can’t have you catching the flu,” I replied with a smirk.



I grabbed the umbrella off the back seat and braved the monsoon as I ran around the car to the passenger side door. Chief Swan opened the front door of the house just as we made it to the porch, “Hey Dad, you’re home early tonight.”



“Actually you two are a little late. We were getting worried that you two were in a wreck given this weather.”



“Sorry Dad, I got a little emotional after my appointment and Edward pulled over until I was able to calm down.”



“Everything ok now?” he asked looking between us.



“I’ll explain later, Dad,” and then she turned back to me, “Thanks for the ride, Edward. I’ll see you in the morning.”



“Good night Bella. Good night Charlie.”



A/N:



The general consensus is that the Charlie and Leah’s revenge rocked plus it was another record in reviews that made me all shades of giddy this weekend. I’ve had that planned for a while and I had to keep restraining myself from giving it away in the chapters and review replies. I hope that I conveyed Bella’s frustration clearly in this chapter, it not that she wants to know but that she will never know exactly what was done to her. And you get more amazing daddy Charlie in this chapter!

LL Chapter 24

LL Chapter 24

Saturday Night Fever

I could tell that Bella was utterly exhausted about a half hour into our work. It did not take us long to finalize everything and ensure that we had all of our materials organized to present and turn in this week. Our presentation was not due until Thursday but Bella was an overachiever like I was, so both of us reveled in having it done early.



As we worked, I worked on convincing Bella to stay for dinner so no one was going to be home at her house. It wasn't until I enlisted the help of my mom that she finally agreed to stay. Dad went out to fire up the grill to BBQ some steaks while the rest of us made some side dishes. Let me rephrase that, while the rest of us made healthy side dishes.



After a dinner filled with laughter and joking we settled into the living room to watch a movie. Since Rose and Jasper were attending a dinner with their parents, Alice was spending a rare Saturday night at home with us. She and Mom were sitting on the floor playing with Tanya; Dad took the easy chair; while Bella and I each took separate ends of the couch. It was not long into the movie before we all heard the soft snoring coming from Bella's end of the couch.



"The poor dear is so exhausted," Mom commented as she covered Bella with the blanket from the back of the couch.



"Let's let her sleep in peace," Dad spoke up as he turned off the TV as I grabbed Tanya off the floor and quietly asked Alice to help me get her stuff upstairs to my room.



Once upstairs in my room I turned on some classical music and Alice flopped down on my bed to continue her game of peek-a-boo with Tanya. I sat down next to them and played with them and watching Tanya smile, laugh, and flail her little arms and legs in delight.



An hour and a half later Bella's phone went off with a ringtone that I recognized as being Jasper. She left the room to talk to him in private and that was fine with me. It just meant that I got some one on one time with Tanya.



I was standing there a few minutes later playing with Tanya and the stuffed dog that I had bought her and getting her to laugh for me some more. I sat there watching her smile and laugh, "You know you are just as beautiful as your mama when you smile. You are both so beautiful. I know you are going to be just as smart as your mama too."



Bella walked in a minute later with a bottle for Tanya and knelt down by the bed near us.



"Did you enjoy your nap?"



"Yes, I did, thank you Edward. I didn't mean to fall asleep."



"Mom would say that your body must have needed the rest. It was fine. Tanya and I were having a nice chat."



"Thanks again," she said and then reached down to pick up Tanya and feed her the bottle.



" It's after ten, I guess I'm going to have to take you home soon?"



"Umm, no. My Leah called me. That's what woke me. Anyway, she's coming to get me."



"She doesn't have to. I can drive you home."



"She said he wanted to tell me something that you and Alice would be interested in hearing too."



Twenty minutes later, we were all sitting in the living room only with Leah with us.



"Well, you know how I said that there was no way that I was going to let this shit with Lauren and Jessica drop?"



"What did you do?"



"Relax Bella," Leah smirked, "the only thing I did was give an official tip to the police."



"What kind of tip? Everyone knows those two are addicts," I spoke up.



"Yes, that is common knowledge. But what isn't so widely known is what's going on between Lauren and David Stanley and how she's been "earning" her drug money from him every Saturday night."



"What?" we all exclaimed stunned.



"Oh yes. Every Saturday night she meets him behind Newton's store and after a couple of "work" in his backseat and she get paid.



"Oh my God!" I could not believe that that little fact wasn't more widely known.



"So, what did Dad do?"



"Both Mr. David Stanley and Lauren are in the city jail under arrest for solicitation."



"How did you know about it?"



"Apparently she had propositioned a couple of the guys down on the reservation, including Sam, but she let it be known that she had a standing client appointment every Saturday night. And she may have let it slip to one of the boys where she can be found if they wanted a go a round or two after she was done with the other client."



"Ew, gross," Bella shuddered. I had to agree that was just nasty.



"Oh and Charlie may have "accidently" dropped copies of their mug shots in my purse earlier. And the guys from the reservation may be, at this minute "accidentally" posting them on every light pole in Forks, the rez, and every other town around here."



"Damn girl," Alice laughed, "Remind me never to piss off you or Chief Swan. That's so vicious!" Leah was an absolute genius. What a brilliant way of getting revenge without laying a finger on Jessica or Lauren. And both of them were going to be suffering repercussions from the public humiliation.



Then the girls had to go home, but not before Bella asked me if I would mind driving her to Port Angeles for her doctor's appointment after school on Monday. Was she kidding me? There was no way that I was going to say no to getting to spend two hours alone in the car with car. Now, I really could not wait for Monday to come. After they left, I went back to my room and sank into the best sleep that I had had in a week filled with dreams of Bella.



A/N:



Happy Saturday! Leah and Charlie got their revenge for they attack on Bella, and they stayed within the law! Have a great night! I am off to take my son to a professional minor league baseball game! As always, enjoy! And oh! I am absolutely still doing a happy dance that I got 14 reviews last chapter. It was a new record for me and I am extremely thrilled, so thanks everyone. Next update Monday.

LL Chapter 23

LL Chapter 23

Slow go

We rode to school in a comfortable silence. It didn’t hurt that Bella only lived about two minutes from the school. I didn’t want to let on to Alice that I was interested in Bella just yet. This was one of the rare things that I did not want to share with her, when we would normally tell each other everything that happened in our lives. When I pulled into the parking lot we found Rose, Jasper, and Emmett lounging on some picnic tables.



Alice and I started off towards them and Bella started off towards the school but I grabbed her hand dragged her along with us. “Hey, Emmett,” Rose started as we approached them; “Edward and I got together and made some plans for your birthday.”



“No party, please tell me there’s no party,” Emmett was muttering under his breath.



“How bad was this party last year?” Bella asked.



“BAD!” we all answered her. We had told her about the garden bonfire, but not about all the broken windows or the new artwork that appeared on the side of Mr. Hale’s garage. It took us three weekends of painting to finally get it all covered up. All of which we became financially responsible for.



“Edward and I decided it would be best to keep it simple; just dinner and bowling.”



“Thank God! That sounds great. You’re coming too, aren’t you Bells?”



“Uh, yeah I am.”



“And the munchkin too, right?”



“No. Dad’s babysitting.”



“Too bad. She’s an angel.”



“Yeah, you’ve never had to change one of her stink bombs,” I blurted out.



“HEY!,” Bella smacked my chest



“I’m just being honest.”



“I know. I’ve changed plenty of those stink bombs myself. But still, that’s my daughter you’re talking about.”



“I didn’t mean to upset you,” I apologized.



“It’s f—“



“Hey guys, what’s up?” I almost groaned aloud when Angela approached us.



“We’re just talking about poopy diapers,” Emmett told her.



“What?”



“Never mind him. He’s an idiot. We’re planning for Emmett’s birthday. You want to go to dinner with us?” I was going to kill Alice for that one. I politely excused myself citing the need to use the bathroom before class before I ended up strangling my sister. It unfortunately made me the first person to make it to class. Alice and Angela were going to screw this up for me if I didn’t do something about Angela’s crush because she was bordering on stalking me now.



“I don’t think that girl can take a hint. Why can’t I just tell her to back the fuck off?” Rose chuckled at me as she sat down and took out her copy of “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, that we were reading for English Class.



“Because that will hurt her and make her cry and make YOU look bad to the girl you do want. Anyway, I’m inviting Ben Cheney to the dinner. He likes Angela and maybe that will get her off your back.”



“I hope so, because I can’t take much more of her, she’s going to screw this up for me.”



“Don’t worry. If it comes down to it, I’ll talk to her for you. That way, I’ll be the bad guy.”



“You’re the best Rose.”



“I know I am.”



When the last bell rang, to end the day, I rushed off to meet Bella at her locker. My sister was going over to the Hale’s to study with Jasper so I had Bella all to myself for the ride back to her house, and I loved it. When we got there we found the house empty. According to her note, Sue had to run to the store but would be back soon. We set ourselves up at the table in the kitchen and got to work on the project.



I could not help but laugh at Bella when she shot out of her chair and ran for the door the second that we heard Sue’s car pull into the driveway. “Shut up!” she admonished my laughter when she returned carrying a smiling Tanya in her good arm and returned to her seat in the chair across the table from me, “It’s hard to be away from her for so long. I can’t believe how much she’s grown since she was born.”



“Really?”



“Yeah, she was so teeny tiny that I could practically hold her in one hand, now look at her. The doctors say that she’s only about a month behind in physical development but mentally she’s right on par. She laughed for the first time the other day. Right on the day that she turned three months old. I’m sorry, you probably don’t want to hear me go on and on about her.”



“On the contrary, I love hearing you talk about her. She’s your life, and you light up and smile when you talk about her.”



“I do?”



“You really do.” At that moment, I heard Seth and Leah come home and realized that it was getting close to dinner time, “I have to get home, but I think if we get together on Saturday we should have it done.”



“I’m free all day. In fact, everyone else is going to be gone all day and Tanya and I are going to have the whole house to ourselves.”



“The hospital called me; there are two new babies in the NICU, so I am back on duty for a couple hours Saturday. Hey, I have an idea, why don’t I pick up you and Tanya and take you to my house to work and Mom can help us watch Tanya while we’re working?”



“Are you sure that your mom won’t mind? You didn’t even ask her if she would.”



“Bella, how hard is it for you to get Mom to hand your daughter over to you when she babysit? How many times have you had to practically wrestle your daughter out of her arms to get her back?”



“Point taken. Ok. Call me when you leave Port Angeles and we will be ready to go when you get here.”



“Great, I’ll pick you up for school at the same time tomorrow,” I yelled as I ran out the door.



Thank God Friday flew by and the weekend was here. It had been a long week and I needed the down time. Plus Bella was coming over this afternoon and I was going to get to spend the afternoon with the two people that were quickly becoming my two favorite girls.



The baby that I held this after noon was a girl named Antonia. She and her twin, Antonio, brother were both born prematurely due to a car accident. Unfortunately, the parents did not survive the accident. Their aunt and uncle were coming in from Italy on Monday to care for them and would take custody of them.



Bella did not have much to bring over with her as Mom had taken to stocking up on diapers, formula, baby cereal; she even had new baby furniture. I think she might be trying to talk Dad into letting her turn the guest room into a nursery. She loved babies and I never understood why they never had anymore after Alice and me. As soon as Bella let me into the house, I presented her with something that I found in the hospital gift shop when I ducked in for a soda and candy bar on my way out and I just could not pass up buying. It was a little pink puppy that was wearing a T-shirt that said, “I love my mama”. I not only got a brilliant smile out of Bella, I even got a laugh out of Tanya when I put it in her carrier with her.





A/N: Ok. I wrote this chapter more times than I want to remember. It just wouldn’t come out right. Leah’s revenge is coming, she just needs to wait for the right time plus she is not working alone on this, ducks need to be in a row before they strike. I don’t know if I’ll get another chapter out by the weekend but I’ll try. As always, thanks to all my reviewers, you make my day!

LL Chapter 22

LL Chapter 22

Friends, Family, and Fathers

I was just reaching up to knock on the door when it flew open and I was nearly tackled by Leah and she stormed out of the house followed by an aggravated Bella, “Leah, just let it go!”



“NO! They are going to get what they deserve for messing with my sister. And that’s final.”



“UGH! Go see Sam and let him calm you down.” Then she turned to me, “Sorry you had to see that Edward, she’s a little bit upset about Jessica and Lauren.”



“If that is a little bit upset, I would hate to see her a lot upset. She just cares about you, Bella. Are you ok? I mean besides the sprained wrist.”



“It’s going to be a little hard to pick up Tanya with only one hand but I’ll manage.”



“What I meant is that, you know what they said was utter bullshit right?”



“I didn’t until you all stood in front of me, you all stood up for me and protected me and Edward, I told you that everyone turned on me in Phoenix. I just don’t think you’ll ever be able to comprehend what that meant to me. And there’s Leah who’s ready to beat down on them for me. I feel so alone for so long. Dad, Sue, Leah, and Seth had work and school so they had to be here. So it was just Mom and I and she wasn’t really there for me, then I was all alone and…now I have--”



“--You have a lot of people here who care a lot about you.”



“Thank you, Edward. You are so sweet. Can I get you anything to drink or eat?”



“Nah, I just came from Rose’s house. I managed to snag a few cookies from her without losing my fingers.”



“Yeah, that girl can eat. I can see why she and Emmett are together. So why were you hanging out with her? I didn’t think that you two were that close. I’m sorry; it’s really none of my business. I shouldn’t pry.”



“We were actually planning for Emmett’s birthday. It’s a week from Saturday,” I replied grateful that it was the truth; it just wasn’t the only thing that we were planning.



“Oh yeah, what are you guys doing to celebrate?”



“We, Bella, We are going to dinner and bowling.”



“We?”



“Yes, we and you can bring Tanya with you. At least you can bring her to dinner; I am not sure about the bowling. I’ll ask dad.”



“Edward, wait you guys don’t have to—“



“—do not finish that sentence. You are officially part of the group now and you are coming to dinner with us.”



“Are you sure he wouldn’t rather have a big party since he is turning eighteen?”



“OH yes. I am sure. None of us want a repeat of last year. It was expensive to repair all of the damage and I think your father finally forgot all about the whole thing.”



“No. I just have my intuitive theories about who actually turned Mrs. Hale’s garden into a bonfire and I have been watching her,” we both looked up to see Chief Swan standing in the doorway.



“Hi, dad. Where’s my baby?”



“Don’t worry. I didn’t forget to pick her up. She’s sleeping in the carrier in the living room. So, to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit, Edward?”



“Oh right. I almost forgot. I brought your homework, Bella.”



“Oh, thank you! I was getting worried about falling behind.”



“So how did you two get onto the subject of Emmett McCarty’s infamous birthday party last year?”



“His birthday is coming up and I was inviting Bella to join us.”



“Oh God! You kids aren’t planning a repeat of last year are you?”



“No, no, no! We are keeping it simple, Chief Swan. Dinner and bowling in Port Angeles. Bella can bring Tanya along with her if she wants.”



“At least any destruction will be outside my jurisdiction this time. When is his birthday?”



“It’s a week from Saturday, Dad. And I am not sure if I am even going to go yet.”



“Yes, you are. You need to go out with your friends and have a good time. There’s a tribal meeting that Sue, Leah, and Seth have to attend, so Tanya can stay home and keep her grandpa company. And that’s final. You still need to be a teenager too. And every parent deserves a night out Bella.”



“Fine! I’ll go.”



“I know you will,” Chief Swan replied to her.



”I had better get home for dinner. I’ll be here at seven to pick you up Bella?”



“Yes, that’s good. I’ll be ready.”



“Oh and we need to find time to work on that biology project. Perhaps I could stay tomorrow when I drop you off and we can work on it and I can help you with Tanya since you can’t use your wrist.”



“That sounds good. Thanks again, Edward.”



“I’ll walk you out, Edward. I forgot the diaper bag in the cruiser.” We were quiet as we walked out of the house but as soon as we reached the cruiser, Chief Swan put his hand on my shoulder and stopped me, “Edward, thank you for defending her today. She told me earlier what happened at school. I ran over to the hospital to pick her up and bring her home and she was smiling. I was about to go back in to ask your father what kind of pain killers he gave her because, I swear, I haven’t seen that girl smile like that since before all this shit happened. But she told me how you, your sister and friends stood up to her, protected her, and put those girls in their place. Trust me, Lauren and Jessica are going to be dealt with and I know they won’t be back in school this week either.”



“That’s good. It’s not like they actually contribute anything positive by being there. Leah seems to be out for blood though.”



“Leah always wanted a sister, but she got Seth. She’s excited to have Bella and Tanya around and is very protective of them. She’s actually very protective of everyone in her life. Well, I should let you get home to your supper.”



“See you later, Chief Swan.”



I was about half way to my car before Bella’s dad called out to me, “Edward!”



“Yes Chief?”



“Call me Charlie.”





A/N:



Some Big Sister Bear Leah and Papa Bear Charlie. And thanks to everyone that reviews! You guys make me smile!

LL Chapter 21

LL Chapter 21




One Step Forward



I had been looking forward to seeing Bella ever since my alarm woke me this morning. I had to keep biting tongue to keep from yelling at my sister to hurry up getting ready because I was so eager to get to school.



By the time I was finally able to get Alice out of the house we were running late and we made it to school with just enough time to get to our first classes. I saw Bella’s car in the lot as I was running into the building and it made me feel better knowing that I would see her again soon.



Little did I know that my first opportunity to see her this morning was not going to be a happy occasion. I was walking to my second period French Class with Alice when I heard the horrible screeching voice that could only be Lauren calling someone a whore. We hurried around the corner in time to see Jessica shove Bella hard and telling her that everyone would be happier if her and her little bastard went back to where she came from and that no one wanted her here. We ran for them but we could not make it to them before Bella fell to the ground. She had put out her arms to break her fall and was now cradling her wrist and I was livid. How dare they put their filthy hands on her.



As Alice started helping Bella up off the floor, I stepped in front of the both of them to protect them from the bitches that were hell bent on hurting Bella. I was going to make sure that Lauren and Jessica knew never to mess with Bella again, “Don’t you ever, and I mean EVER, put your hands on her again you will regret it, because you will have to deal with me!”



“And me.” I looked to my right and found an enraged Rose with Emmett standing behind her. Looking behind me, to check on Bella and Alice and saw that Jasper had joined them and was examining Bella wrist.



“No, they mean that you will have to deal with all of us,” I heard Angela say from my left.



“And we want Bella here a hell of a lot more than we want your skanky asses here.” Alice spoke up from behind me.



“Hey Jasper!” Jessica spoke up try to be coy, having noticed that Jasper was standing with Alice, “When are you going to drop miss good two shoes over there and let us show you what you’ve been missing out on?”



I rolled my and looked behind me again to see Jasper pulling Alice to his side and kissing her on the temple before turning back to Jessica, “I know exactly what I missing out on. An STD, a round of penicillin, and a criminal record for minor in possession. How many times has Chief Swan arrested you two for public indecency now?”



Everyone in the hall started laughing at Jasper comment which just made Jessica angrier, but before she could respond we were all interrupted, “What is going on here?” I looked up to find Dr. Banner standing in front of us.



“Jessica and Lauren attacked Bella, verbally and physically, I think they hurt her wrist,” I told him.



“Did you see this happen?” he asked me.



“Yes he did and so did I”, Alice spoke up, “She needs to see a doctor. Her wrist is starting to swell.”



Dr. Banner walked up to Bella and reached out for her wrist, “May I?” He continued when she nodded. “I don’t think it is broken but it might be sprained. I agree. You need to see a doctor.”



“I’ll take her to my dad’s office. Her step mom works for him.”



“No, Edward. You have to make up the quiz you missed yesterday. Someone else can take Ms. Swan to the doctor.”



“I’ll do it.” Alice volunteered, “Just give me your keys, Edward.”



“Thank you, Miss Cullen. I will tell the office that you two are gone seeing as I need to take these two to see the principal.”



I handed over my car keys to Alice and she ushered a now crying Bella out of the school.



I attempted to continue with my morning but I could not concentrate on anything that my teachers were talking about. By lunch time I was obsessively checking my phone for any message from my sister. I was just sitting down to lunch when Alice rushed in and flopped down in her chair, in true Alice dramatic fashion.



“What happen?”



“It’s just a sprain. I stayed with her through all of the x-rays and then drove her home.”



“At least it is not broken.”



“Yeah, well, she is still not going to be able to drive for away. I’ll call her afterschool and offer to drive her to and from school,” Angela volunteered.



“Oh, don’t worry. I kind of already volunteered Edward and myself to do it.”



“Oh, that’s ok, I’m sure that Edward isn’t going to want to cart her around. I’ll call and tell her that there was a change in plans.”



“That’s ok, Angela. I don’t mind doing it.”



“Oh, that’s fine, I guess,” and that was the last thing that Angela said through lunch.



By the time that school was out I was bouncing in my seat again. I had arranged to meet Rose at her house after school since we each drove our own cars and Alice was going out with Jasper. I sat in my car waiting for Rose to show and stewing over how I was going to even start this conversation with her.



No one else was at her house as both of her parents worked as lawyers. Rose detoured to the kitchen and grabbed us a couple of sodas, and a sandwich, a bag of chips, a bag of cookies for herself.



“You know,” she started when she finally sat down with her ‘snack’, “when you called me last and asked if we could meet to talk this afternoon, I foolishly thought that you were thinking about planning your best friend’s birthday. But after today, I think that I am wrong.”



“Shit! I forgot that Emmett’s birthday is coming up soon.”



“Obviously. So tell me, Edward, why did you need to talk to me?”



“Ok. I like Bella. I mean I want to go on a date with her, but with her history I don’t think that I could just ask her and I need help with getting to the point that she would considering not only dating but dating me. And since you know what she went through you are my best option.” And then she started laughing at me.



“OH MYGOD! You realize the irony in you falling for a teen mom don’t you?”



“Yes.”



“And you know that the kid is part of the package deal.”



“Her name is Tanya, not ‘the kid’ and yes I do.”



“Ok. Next question, has she told you everything that happened in Phoenix?”



“I think so. I mean she told me a lot the other night in regards to what happened that night, who they were, and what happened afterwards with her so called friends during the trial and her mom, she told me about her Mom.”



“Way to answer that while not giving away any details! But seriously, I didn’t know that you were so close.”



“We’ve talked a lot. I mean she was staying at my house over the weekend. Will you help me?”



“Yes I will. Because deep down I know that you are a good guy that can make her happy and she deserves to be happy after what happened it Phoenix.”



“Thank you Rose.”



“Yeah, well, I didn’t say that it was going to be easy. First, I’d say take your time in getting her more comfortable spending time with you. And do nice things for her. Here,” she reached into her bag, “I grabbed her homework before I left school, and you should take it to her. And maybe offer to help her with it?”



“She’s too smart. That might offend her. We do still have our project, we could set a time for that and then suggest that she bring her other homework and we could help each other with it.”



“You do know her well don’t you? Well, the best thing that I can tell you is to go slow. Stay with being her friend but show her that you want to spend time with her and getting to know her. But don’t push too fast, she may not act like it most of the time, but she is still traumatized by what happened, you accidentally cause her to have a flashback.”



“Yeah, no more flashbacks, I really hated seeing that.”



“She had a flashback recently?” I told her about the strawberry debacle and she was a little upset that my mom didn’t think that through.



“Hey Edward, I have one question for you, do you have any idea where you would take her if she said yes to a date?”



“Yes, I found out that the hospital fundraiser got pushed back due to a conference. It’s a month from now. I want to ask her to be my date. She told me that she had never been on a date before and it’s a kind of romantic, all dressed up in evening gowns and tuxes and dancing the night away plus it has the added perk that-“



“—again, it will be a group setting and with so many people will be attending she’ll feel more comfortable than being alone with you all night. It sounds perfect. But, now that we have a plan for you to start with, we should decide what we are going to do about Emmett’s birthday.”







“Ok. I think that we can safely say that last year’s disaster should be avoided this year at all costs.”



“I would say so, Mom is still angry about her garden getting destroyed. Man, I had no idea rose bushes were that expensive. I can guarantee that Mom and Dad are not going to allow a party here again.” We had thrown a surprise party for him at the Hales and somehow Mrs. Hale’s garden was set on fire and the fire department had to be called. We still think that it was Lauren that did it; we just don’t have the proof.



“Yeah, my parents either. How about we do a quiet group dinner, just the six of us, in Port Angeles, and maybe a movie?”



“Bowling would be better. Emmett likes slasher films and I don’t see that going over well with your future girlfriend.”



“Dinner and bowling as a group. She’d be comfortable with that, I think. I better go get this to her. Thanks Rose.”





A/N:



A little longer than normal and we have a group confrontation with the tramp twins and a heart to heart with Rose. Next chapter will be a face to face with an angry Leah!

LL Chapter 20

LL Chapter 20

Choking on My Chicken

“I think that you have to be the strongest woman that I have ever met.”



“I don’t feel like I am. Especially when things like what happened earlier tonight with the strawberries happens.”



“Jesus, Bella. Just because something triggers a bad memory for you, it doesn’t make you weak. I mean, you may not have been able to fight them off but you never gave up fighting. You kept fighting by making sure that they ended up in jail where they belong.” I reached over tentatively and took her hand in mine, “and Tanya, very few women would have kept a baby conceived through a rape. You are an amazing mother to her too.”



“The fighting back had a lot to do with Leah. When she came to see me in the hospital she told me that just because I was victimized didn’t mean that I had to be a victim. That became my mantra through the whole recovery process and trial. So even when the papers and magazines were calling me a lying whore, I kept my head held high. Dad and Sue kept saying that they may have won the first battle but I should not let them get away with winning the war. Dad, Sue, Leah, and even Seth were absolutely amazing through the whole thing.”



“Sounds like it. And from talking to your dad and Leah they still are, but don’t you ever just get angry with it all?”



“Oh, hell yes! Just ask my therapists and doctors. They’ve really gotten the brunt of my rages. There are so many days that I want to scream ‘why me’ and I want to throw things. Then I have times like earlier when I just want to hide under the bed, but I can’t because if I do then they win the war.”



“You know I rarely say this to anyone, but you’re pretty damn smart there, Bella Swan.”



“Wow. I am totally honored by that compliment.” She giggled and picked up the remote with the hand that I was not holding and started flipping through channels. She finally landed on a movie channel that was playing one of those old silent movies. As we settled in to watch it, I let go of her hand and pulled a blanket down off the back of the couch. It wasn’t long before I heard Bella breathing even out and looked up to find her asleep. I must have fallen asleep shortly after five, which was the last time I looked at the clock.



“Edward,” I heard my father’s voice as he tapped on my shoulder, “how did you two end up down here?”



“I had a bad dream and came down for a drink. She was already here and we got to talking and I guess we just fell asleep and why can’t I move my legs?”



“Because Bella’s using them as a pillow,” he said with a small laugh. Sure enough, when I managed to look down, I realized that not only did we both end up scooting down to a lying position but also she was wrapped around my calves and her head rested on my feet. “What time did you two fall asleep?”



“It was sometime after five.”



“Then I want the two of you to stay home from school. Get some sleep and rest.”



“Okay,” I mumbled and fell back to sleep.



When I woke a few hours later, I sat up, groaning and rubbing my face until I heard a giggle coming from somewhere close by. I peeked out with one eye, looking through my fingers to see Bella sitting on the floor playing with Tanya, “Good Morning, Sunshine!”



“How can you be so chipper right now? It’s fucking annoying.”



“Oh! Uncle Edward is a mister crabby pants when he doesn’t get enough sleep, isn’t he, baby?” She went back to tickling Tanya getting more giggles out of the baby.



“Let me get some damn coffee in me and I’ll be in a better mood. Wait a fucking minute…Uncle Edward?”



“EDWARD ANTHONY CULLEN!” Mom came charging in the room, “Don’t you ever let me hear you swearing in front of a lady or a baby again or I will put Tabasco in your mouth! You hear me?”



“Yes, mom.”



“Good, now apologize to Bella for being so crude in front of her.”



“I’m sorry,” I said to Bella as Mom left the room and Bella started snickering at me. I stuck my tongue out at her and she started full out laughing at me, “oh shut up.”



“Don’t make me tell your mommy on you!”



“Brat!” I quipped at her with a laugh and made my way to the kitchen in search of caffeine and food.



An hour later, after eating and deciding that a shower was definitely necessary, I came out of my room to find Bella coming out of the guest room carrying a couple of bags. Oh right, I thought, she was going home today. I went over and started helping her take all of her stuff out to her car.



Before she left mom insisted that that Bella stay to eat lunch with us. When Bella was finally able to convince Mom that she really needed to go because she was running low on diapers and needed to stop at the store on the way home, I helped Bella by carrying Tanya’s carrier out to the car and buckling her in.



“Bella, I know that you have a house full of live-in sitters, but if you ever need a sitter call me, ok?” I told her as I handed her my cell number.



“Ok, and thanks for…you know…being a friend and being there for me to talk to last night.”



“Any time you need someone to talk to or vent to, call my cell. I don’t care what time it is, day or night.” She nodded and turned to get into her car but spun back around and gave me what amounted to being the quickest hug in history before jumping into her car and taking off.



I spent the rest of the afternoon in my room listening to music and thinking about everything that Bella had told me in the early hours of this morning. I am not a violent person but I wanted to kill those bastards for what they did to her.



I looked over at the calendar on my wall and realized that it was already the first of October. The fundraiser for Dad’s hospital was coming up soon; it was a ball, complete with evening gowns and tuxes. I sighed realizing that Alice was going to be getting on my case about not having a date for it, Mom just gave me these looks that plainly said that she was concerned about my lack of social life.



At seven, I went down to the dining room and sat down to a supper of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and salad. My gaze kept alternating between the empty chair next to my sister and the salad in the bowl directly in front of me. It seemed exponentially wrong that Bella wasn’t here to eat supper with us.



It hit me out of the blue what it really was that was bothering me about Bella not being here, and it absolutely shocked me to the point that I started chocking on my food as the realization took form in my head. I was a complete asshole for it, but I was falling for Bella Swan. How could I even consider wanting to go out with her when she was still dealing with all the shit that had happened to her.



But didn’t she say that she didn’t want that to hold her back from living her life? I was so immersed in my inner musings of my conflict; I wanted to go on a date with Bella but was it too soon for her? There was also the fact that it made me a complete hypocrite to want to date a teen mom. Yeah, my friends were going to let me have it for that.



There were two questions that I needed answers to first was willing to go out on a date at all and second, would she want to go out on a date with me? I knew only two people that knew Bella well enough to be able to help me. Angela was one of them, but I did not dare go to her. I may be an ass to most people most of the time, but I was not mean enough to go to a girl that had a crush on me for advice on how to ask out her friend. So, I had no choice but to go to her other friend for help, I would have to call Rose.









A/N:

I want to clarify that Edwards concern about dating Bella is not the fact that she was raped but is concerned she is not ready to date yet and doesn’t want to push her or hurt her. This might be it for the weekend as I have a busy one this weekend. School starts on Monday, how is it possible that my baby is in 8th grade?



This story is now only being posted on ffn and a blog; you can find the link on my profile. Thank you to everyone that reviews, you totally rock and make my day so much brighter!

LL Chapter 19

LL Chapter 19

Talking Through the Night

Warning: this chapter touches on the sensitive topic of rape and suicide.



It was her stepfather. It was a man that her mother not only let near her, but also allowed into their home. I was speechless. When I figured out that she had been raped I assumed that is had been strangers or kids at a party or something like that. Never had I thought that the attack had occurred in her home; where she was supposed to feel safe and secure.



"You're upset. I can see it in your face."



"I hate you went through this. That upsets me."



"Me too. But I tried to fight them Edward. I really did."



"I believe you, Bella, but you really didn't stand a chance against two professional athletes."



"I never liked him. I begged my mom not to marry him. I really wanted her to break up with him. But she was pretty snowed by him."



"I hate to speak ill of the dead, but I do not like your mom right now."



"I feel the same way sometimes and sometimes I wish I had taken that damn drink. At least then I'd be dead and been spared from enduring the aftermath of all this shit."



I could not believe that she had just said that. Did she really wish that she was dead? My breaths started coming fast as if I was starting to hyperventilate.



"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."



"I don't know what to say to that. If you had, you would not be her and neither would Tanya. But then they also would not have…"



"That's the part that makes me feel like shit. No matter how she was conceived, I love my daughter."



We sat in silence for a bit before she looked at me again, "Edward, how did you know that it was two guys? I didn't tell you that."



"Uh, I ran into your dad this morning. He mentioned it. But in his defense he thought that I knew already. I'm sorry."



"He probably did think that. Since Rose and Angela know everything. Do you want to hear the whole story?"



"Yes and no. I mean if you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to."



"I talk about it all the time Edward. I talk about it in group. I talk about it in therapy. I had to tell the damn story about two hundred times to lawyers and in front of everyone in court."



"I don't want to pressure you to tell me though."



:You're not. You are going to end up finding out anyway and I'd rather you hear the whole thing from me than bits and pieces from everyone else. Ok. I may repeat things that you already know but it will be easier for me if I start at the beginning."



"Alright. Take your time."



"Ok. I never liked Phil. When mom started dating Phil I begged her to dump him. But she was too caught up in the fact that a young professional athlete wanted her. When she agreed to marry him, I begged her to let me ask dad if I could move up here. But she started crying that she would miss me too much and did not want to be left alone when Phil was on the road, so I caved. That's the decision that I regret the most.



On the night that they attacked me I had stayed late at school for a DECA Club meeting and my friend, Cassie, drove me home since Mom took mine for the day as hers was in the shop. She had plans to go out to dinner and clubbing with some ladies from work for a bachelorette party.



After I refused their drink, I went straight to my room stopping only to grab a baseball bat out of the hall closet. I locked my door, called Cassie, and begged her to come back and get me. I was throwing some clothes in a bag and trying to keep Cassie on the line with me.



After only a couple of minutes, they crashed through my bedroom door. They kicked it down to be more accurate. I dropped the phone and spun around yielding the bat. They both stood there and laughed at me. I swung at them as hard as I could but I was no match for them.



Eric grabbed the bat from my hand while Phil shoved me down on the bed. Eric swung the bat down on me repeatedly. He got my arms, my chest, and the last thing I remember before blacking out was when the bat made contact with my head. Like I said, I woke up six weeks later with a cracked skull, both arms broken in multiple places, and five broken ribs and I was pregnant.



The lucky thing about it is that I don't have any memories of actually being raped. I was unconscious through the whole ordeal. Cassie heard everything though. She called the cops and her mom, who was out with my mom.



Dad was there when I woke up. So was Sue. But Mom wasn't. She blamed herself for the whole thing, for bringing him into our lives, for not listening to me, for not being home that night.



I was so angry with everything at the time that I told her that I blamed her too. That I wished she had left me in Forks when I was a baby. I told her that I hated her. Over the next six months I thought that things were getting better with us but she was just pretending. She was drinking like crazy. I was so busy with healing and the pregnancy I wasn't paying close attention to her.



The day that she died, she went to work drunk, which considering that she taught kindergarten was definitely not acceptable. One of her students slipped out of the room when she wasn't looking and got the principal, she thought that Mrs. Dwyer was sick and needed to see the nurse. They fired mom when they found the vodka in her desk. She took her life that afternoon.



I named my daughter after her because I loved my mom and I know that she loved me. No matter if she could be held at fault for bringing him into our lives or that she took a coward's way out, I will always love her and miss her.



I was determined that those two bastards were going to pay. So I decided to help the cops prosecute them. They told me that it was going to be tough. Defense lawyers would do anything to discredit a rape victim. To make her out to be a lying whore.



But there wasn't anything in my past that they would be able to use. I was a virgin when they attacked me. I had never even been on a date before, let alone kissed. So the defense use the only other strategy that they could against me, public opinion.



They got the press to go after me and harass me. They even went after Cassie. They got to her so bad that she refused to testify and being a minor her parents could refuse to allow her to take the stand. So all I had was the physical injuries and the damn spiked drinks. Everyone turned on me, all of my friends and all of mom's friends. I had to stop attending school in person for my safety because the other kids were against me.



There are so many days that I cannot believe I won that trial. They both went to prison on several charges, including assault with a deadly weapon, felony child abuse, sodomy, and sexual assault of a minor child. They will each be in prison for many, many years.



Not only did I have to deal with healing from the physical injuries form the attack, because of the stress surrounding the trial, I developed complications with the pregnancy. You know about the preeclampsia but I also developed gestational diabetes.



I was in the hospital for weeks after she was born recovering. As soon as I was released Dad brought me up here. Tanya had to be airlifted, but Dad was going to drive me up here. I flipped out. I was not going to let her out of my sight. As they led Eric out of the court after sentencing he started yelling that he would make me suffer and that the moment Tanya was out of my sight for a second he make sure she was taken from me. That's why I kinda flipped out and hit you. I'm sorry for that again. As a nurse, Sue was allowed to fly up with her. But when I walked in and saw a strange guy with my baby I was terrified."



"Wow. I cannot believe that you are as strong as you are after going through all of that."



"I don't feel strong. I can't go to sleep without seeing them smashing into my room or the sight of my mom lying dead on her bed." Yeah, I could believe that.



"I have one question if you don't mind. I mean you don't have to answer it."



"Ask me."



"Do you know which one is her father?"



"No. There was a paternity test done but the results are locked in Dad's safe deposit box at the bank. I never opened it and don't plan on it. It doesn't matter anyway."



"No it doesn't." We sat there in silence for the longest time. I was trying to process everything that she had told me. FUCK! It had been a lot worse than I thought.



A/N:



There you go. Bella's story. More in a day or so. Thanks for reading!

LL Chapter 18

LL Chapter 18

Bad Memories

The moment that I saw that first tear escape her eye, the stupid ice cream was completely forgotten. I immediately went to her and knelt in front of the chair, but as I reached out for her hand she swatted me away. She still had that look in her eyes that plainly said that she was not here in this room with us and wherever she was in her head was not a happy place. I felt completely helpless as more and more tears fell from her eyes.



I felt Mom's hand touch my shoulder and I moved back out of the way. She crouched in front of Bella. She was deliberately not touching her but she leaned in and started talking to her softly. Pretty soon she had Bella nodding and agreeing to what she way saying.



"Alice, will you please help me get Bella up to her room."



"I can help you Mom."



"No, Edward. I need you to stay down here with Tanya."



I got it. I wasn't allowed to help Bella because I was a guy and that was the root of her problems. Bella allowed Mom and Alice to help her out of her chair and up the stairs. The last thing that I noticed they disappeared on the stairs was Alice's arm going around Bella's waist.



It was a good half an hour before Mom came back downstairs to find me sitting on the couch holding a sleeping Tanya. She had started to fuss so I had picked her up and rocked her to sleep.



"Bella is asleep in her room. I moved the basinet in my room and I have the baby monitor, so you can put her down in there."



"Is she ok?"



"She will be. There is just so much for her to deal with and she is so young. Not that anyone of any age should ever have to deal with the things that she has."



"You know the whole story, don't you?"



My Mom looked up at me with a concerned expression, "Yes, your father and I know everything. But, do you know the whole story?"



"No. Only what I've managed to guess at and one thing that Chief Swan let slip."



"Which is?"



"She was raped by two guys. Tanya came from it and Bella's Mom killed herself out of guilt, for some reason."



"That's all? You haven't looked her up on the internet?"



"No, I told her when or if she trusts me enough to talk to me I would be here. I am not about to betray her trust by going behind her back like that."



"There's more to her story, Edward. There is a lot more. But it is for her to tell you, not me. I think you need to get to bed for school tomorrow."



"Will you at least tell me one thing? Just please tell me that they are in jail."



"Yes they are and they will be for a very long time."



"Thanks, Mom. Good night."



"Goodnight Edward. Oh and Edward. You are making your father and me very proud with the way that you have been there for her as a friend and the way that you have stepped in to help with Tanya."



"Thanks Mom." And I continued up the remaining stairs. I went into Mom and Dad's room and went to lie Tanya down. As I placed the sleeping baby down in the bassinet, I hesitated before I leaned back down and kissed her forehead. As I left my parents room I was torn between going to check on Bella and going to wash the day off with a hot shower. When I got to my room and was surprised to find her lying on my bed.



"I'm glad that you're in here. I have something to talk to you about."



"Well, I just thought that you would like to know that she has calmed down and fell asleep."



"Yeah, that's what Mom said."



"She was hurt pretty bad."



"How do you know?"



"Edward, come on! I'm not stupid! She flipped out over strawberries! Not to mention that she wouldn't you touch her but Mom and I could touch her. That says she has an issue with men right there."



"Yeah, I guess your right about that."



"It's why she is different to you isn't it? Why you are protective of her? Why her and Rose are so close?"



"That would be yes to all of those questions."



"Damn it." I sat down next to my sister on the bed and she laid her head on my shoulder.



"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. Although I could through in a few more choice words that get me in major trouble with Mom if she heard me."



"Damn it!"



"You already said that."



"Well, I felt it needed repeating. I better go. I promised Mom that I would sleep in her room in case she needed anything."



"Speaking of being protective, Lauren and Jessica have it out for her. Will you help Rose, Emmett, and I watch out for her?"



"Of course. I get Jasper in this too."



"Thanks"



After my sister left the room I went for that hot shower. But it wasn't working. I could not get Bella's past out of my mind enough to let the hot water relax the tension away. I wanted to know who these guys were. And I wanted to know why her.



After my shower didn't work I decided to try reading a bit before going to bed but remembered that I had left my book downstairs in the living room. I was half way down the stairs when I heard my parents talking from the living room, "I wasn't thinking. I should never have brought those damn strawberries in this house with her."



"Esme, it's going to be ok. She is going to face triggers repeatedly for a long time. The only way for her to avoid it is by locking herself away. She'll even be faced with that possibility anytime that she goes to a restaurant and sees someone drinking a daiquiri. The more she faces the trigger the less it will bother her…hopefully."



"Hopefully?"



"It's not a perfect science and I specialized in cardiology, dear, not psychology."



"I just feel so bad for her."



"I know."



"Edward knows a lot of it."



"Really? Did he Google her?" Ok. I was really starting to piss me off that my family thought so little of me that I would go behind her back and invade her privacy like that. I heard Mom set him straight on where I got my information and I waited for them to quiet before I finished going down the stairs to the living room.



After I made it back up to my room I crawled into bed to read. I must have fallen asleep reading because the next thing that I knew I woke up with a start in a cold sweat with my stomach clenching and the light was still on. I was having a nightmare, in which, Bella and I were running through the woods searching for Tanya. We could hear her crying in distress but we could not find her. It was like whoever had her kept moving her away from us. What the hell was that dream supposed to mean? I looked at the clock and realized that it was two in morning and I knew that I wasn't going to able to get back to sleep anytime soon so I went down stairs to get something to drink and maybe watch a movie.



When I got downstairs I found Bella curled up on the couch watching TV and sipping on a glass of lemonade. I went into the kitchen and pour myself a glass of lemonade and then I returned to the living room and sat on the couch with her, but far enough away that I would not be making her uncomfortable.



"You must think that I am crazy."



"Nope. I know enough about you to know that there is a reason behind your reaction to the strawberries."



"There is and I'd like to explain. If you want to hear, that is."



"I told you that when you were ready to talk I would listen."



"I came home that day and they were there waiting for me. They offered me this strawberry daiquiri. I told them that I was allergic to strawberries and retreated to my room. When I woke in the hospital six weeks later, I found out that when the police tested the mixture they found it spiked with rohypnol." She was speaking to her hands that she had folded in her lap. She didn't look at me once but I didn't care.



"You knew them then? The two guys?"



"One of them the former major league baseball star Eric Conners."



"Shit. I've heard of him. He got sent back to the minors because he was arrested so many times for minor assaults and bar fights that no major league team would touch him."



"That's him."



"Bella? Who was the other guy?"



Now she raised her head and looked me directly in the eyes, "He was my step-father; Phil Dwyer."



A/N:



There you go. More answers about Bella. But that is not all of it. There will be more tomorrow. Maybe with more answers. Not sure yet.

LL Chapter 17

Chapter 17




When the night falls



After Mom finally got home and we had our supper I retreated to my room. I had an English paper to get started on. A short time later I heard someone come upstairs and enter one of the bedrooms and a shower start. I returned to my essay only to be distracted again. This time it was a knock on my door. I opened the door to find my sister standing there looking upset. She pushed past me and came into my room and sat on the chair at my desk.



"Please come in and make your self at home," I grumbled sarcastically while grabbing my bottle of water and taking a drink.



"Are you sleeping with her?" Yeah, I choked on the water effectively spitting it all over my sister. What the hell kind of question was that?



"No. Why would you even think that? You know me."



"I thought I did. But you did come out of her room at three in the morning and you seem very close to her. You like her though don't you?"



"Look. She reminds me of you and Rose and she needs all the friends that she can get. Besides I thought you liked her too. You invited her to join you and Rose on Saturday."



"Only because Rose likes her. I'm not going to lose another friend like I did Jessica."



"This is not the same thing. Give Bella a chance. I did and you know that I have just as many trust issues as you do."



"Your issues are psychotic. I never really understood why you went so extreme. I'm not ready to be a parent either. But I have a social life. But with her, Edward, she's exactly the kind of girl you have trying to avoid."



"Trust me, she not. Look, it's not my story to tell and besides I don't have all the details. But my original assessment about her was completely wrong. Her and I are trying to be friends. Please give her a chance."



"I hate you sometimes, you know that? Fine. I will give her a chance. But I am not babysitting nor am I changing any diapers."



"Yeah, and you call me a spoiled brat." She reached down and grabbed an extra pillow that had fallen on the floor and hit me with it. We ended up in one hell of a pillow fight until one of us knocked over the lamp and broke it. Bella arrived at the room first and started laughing when she saw us standing there covered in feathers and looking completely guilty. Mom was hot on her heels coming to inspect what the crash was. When she walked in the room and noticed the mess of feathers and papers and broken glass she was angry. We are talking if her hands were free they would be on her hips but the Mom glare that made you shrink back kind of angry was in place on her face. Mom and Dad never hit us. Oh no, they knew how to punish by hitting below the belt by taking away whatever was most important to us at the time.



"He did it!"



"She did it!"



"Did not!" We both yelled out at the same time.



"Did too!" Again we spoke simultaneously. We were practically yelling in each other's face.



Bella started laughing and reached out to take her daughter from Mom, "Okay, that is way to déjà vu for me. I am out of here."



With her hands free Moms hands flew to her hips and she started lecturing us on how we were too old to act so childishly and that we were paying to replace the lamp and the pillows. But Mom being Mom ended the lecture with, "clean this mess up quickly and then come downstairs for dessert."



After Alice and I got the mess under control she took off to get some dessert. I wandered down to the guest room to see if Bella was coming down. I stood in the doorway and watched her as she was hovering over Tanya playing peek-a-boo with her. Tanya was letting out the cutest little giggles every time that Bella would reveal her face and start tickling her.



Finally Bella caught sight of me standing there and looked up at me, "Did you get the mess cleaned up?"



I came into the room and sat down on the bed next to Bella and took Tanya hand, "Yes, we did. We will have to go shopping tomorrow after school for new pillows and a lamp. You want to join us?"



"I'm going home tomorrow. Everyone is healthy and Dad said that the house was doused with Lysol and febreeze so it is safe for us to come back."



"That's good I guess. Are you coming down for dessert?"



"Yeah, let's go."



When we got down stairs Mom had made a tub of vanilla ice cream and a bowl of cut up fresh peaches and strawberries. It was strange that Mom had put the Strawberries in a separate bowl. She usually combined all of the fruit.



Bella sat Tanya in the baby swing in the living room before joining us over in the kitchen to get some dessert. I noticed that she only took the peaches. I teased her like she had me the other day, "What did the strawberries do to offend you?"



I could not fathom where the dark look in her eyes came from in a conversation about strawberries, but it was there. "I'm allergic," was all she said before she retreated from the kitchen leaving her ice cream sitting on the table. I grabbed it with mine and took off to catch up to her. I found her sitting in a chair close to Tanya but the look in her eyes told me that she was here with us but far away, most likely back in Phoenix.