Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Couples Therapy

Prologue

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Bella's Point of View.

This was going to make or break us. I couldn't see there being any more opportunities after this one to get us back to how we use to be.

It was Carlisle and Esme's idea. Things hadn't been right between Edward and I for a while now, and they thought that if we talked to someone who was completely neutral, we may have a good chance of saving our marriage. We both agreed to give counselling a shot, which gave me at least some hope of getting us back.

This is where I currently find myself, sitting in a shrink's waiting room with my husband Edward, who I couldn't feel anymore further away from both emotionally and physically. I glanced at the chair in between us, but immediately noticed his leg twitching up and down from the chair that was next to the one separating us. It was a sign of impatience on his behalf and it annoyed the hell out of me. But to be fair, everything he did lately annoyed the hell out of me. I tried biting my lip to stop myself from berating him; it worked for a mere few seconds.

"Could you not... do that please?" I asked trying not to sound too harsh. By the look on Edward's face I failed at that too.

His leg stilled as his eyes met mine; completely void of the love and care I used to find in them before we fell spectacularly apart. He looked at me in disbelief and was about to open his mouth to say something, when a door to my left opened and caught both our attention.

"Mr and Mrs Cullen?" a lady who looked to be in her early forties enquired with a smile.

"Yes," I confirmed standing up.

"Please," she gestured towards her office.

I walked in and took a seat at an end of the long chesterfield sofa that was inside. Edward followed and sat at the opposite end, it was as if we couldn't get far enough away from each other. Our therapist sat down in front of us and picked up a pen and paper.

"Well, first things first, I'm Karen Morgan," she introduced herself. "And you are Edward and Isabella Cullen?"

"Just Bella."

"Ok," Karen smiled. "And you've been married for?"

"Four years," Edward replied.

"Four years and three months," I corrected. I felt Edward look over at me temporarily, my comment clearly pissing him off.

Karen looked between the two of us immediately picking up on the tension. "How old are you both?"

Edward and I glanced at each other quickly before answering. "Twenty five," we replied in unison.

"Married young then?"

"Too young," I said quietly.

"No one forced you to say yes," Edward mumbled.

"What did you say?" I asked irritated.

"Guys," Karen held up a hand. "We have plenty of time for that later. Right now I just want to go over the formalities."

"Sorry," I apologised.

"Sorry," Edward managed to get out.

Karen put her pen and paper aside and smiled at us. She then gave us the same look that people gave you when they pitied you. "This isn't going to be easy. But, the fact that you've come to me shows that you're both willing to admit that you're having trouble communicating with each other, and that you have problems that want you to work through. You should know that these sessions can be very stressful at times, painful even, but the main thing is that you two find a way to be honest with one another. It's the only way to have a chance of fixing this."

The problem was I didn't know if we could be fixed.

"Ok, so you got married when you were twenty, did you know each other long before or was it a whirlwind romance as they say?" she asked.

"We only knew each other for three years before we got married," I told her.

"But we were together all that time, give or take a few weeks," Edward added.

"How did the two of you meet?" Karen asked.

"We met in junior year of high school. I was the new girl when I moved to Forks. We saw each other but never actually...spoke. At first I thought he hated me for whatever reason, but I remember the first time he talked to me," I answered, and was suddenly sent back to the day in biology when we first spoke to each other.

Forks High School Flashback.

Class didn't start for a few minutes, and the room buzzed with conversation. I kept my eyes away from the door, doodling idly on the cover of my notebook. I heard very clearly when the chair next to me moved, but my eyes stayed carefully focused on the pattern I was drawing.

"Hello," said a quiet, musical voice.

I looked up, stunned that he was speaking to me.

"My name is Edward Cullen," he continued. "I didn't have a chance to introduce myself last week. You must be Bella Swan."

"H-how do you know my name?" I stammered.

He laughed a soft, enchanting laugh. "Oh, I think everyone knows your name. The whole town's been waiting for you to arrive."

I grimaced. I knew it was something like that. "No," I persisted stupidly. "I meant, why did you call me Bella?"

He seemed confused. "Do you prefer Isabella?"

"No, I like Bella," I said. "But I think Charlie — I mean my dad — must call me Isabella behind my back — that's what everyone here seems to know me as," I tried to explain, feeling like an utter moron.

"Oh." He let it drop. I looked away awkwardly.

Thankfully, Mr. Banner started class at that moment. "Get started," he commanded.

"Ladies first?" Edward asked. I looked up to see him smiling a crooked smile so beautiful that I could only stare at him like an idiot.

I snapped the first slide into place under the microscope and adjusted it quickly to the 40X objective. I studied the slide briefly. My assessment was confident. "Prophase."

"Do you mind if I look?" he asked as I began to remove the slide.

"Prophase," he agreed, writing it neatly in the first space on our worksheet. He swiftly switched out the first slide for the second, and then glanced at it cursorily. "Anaphase," he murmured, writing it down as he spoke.

I kept my voice indifferent. "Mind if I check?"

He smirked and pushed the microscope to me. I looked through the eyepiece eagerly, only to be disappointed. Dang it, he was right. "Anaphase."

"Slide three?" I held out my hand without looking at him. "Interphase." I passed him the microscope before he could ask for it. He took a swift peek, and then wrote it down. We were finished before anyone else was close, which left me with nothing to do but try to not look at him… unsuccessfully. I glanced up and he was staring at me, that same inexplicable look of frustration in his eyes.

"It's too bad about the snow, isn't it?" Edward asked. I had the feeling that he was forcing himself to make small talk with me.

"Not really," I answered honestly, instead of pretending to be normal like everyone else.

"You don't like the cold." It wasn't a question.

"Or the wet."

"Forks must be a difficult place for you to live," he mused.

"You have no idea," I muttered darkly.

"Why did you come here, then?"

"It's… complicated."

"I think I can keep up," he pressed.

I paused for a long moment, and then made the mistake of meeting his gaze. His dark gold eyes confused me, and I answered without thinking. "My mother got remarried," I said.

"That doesn't sound so complex," he disagreed, but he was suddenly sympathetic. "When did that happen?"

"Last September." My voice sounded sad, even to me.

"And you don't like the guy," Edward surmised, his tone still kind.

"No, Phil is fine. Too young maybe, but nice enough."

"Why didn't you stay with them?"

"Phil travels a lot. He plays ball for a living. She stayed with me at first, but she missed him. It made her unhappy… so I decided it was time to spend some quality time with my dad."

"But now you're unhappy," he pointed out.

"And?" I challenged.

"That doesn't seem fair." He shrugged, but his eyes were still intense.

"Hasn't anyone ever told you? Life isn't fair."

"I believe I have heard that somewhere before," he agreed dryly.

"So that's all," I insisted, wondering why he was still staring at me that way.

His gaze became appraising. "You put on a good show," he said slowly. "But I'd be willing to bet that you're suffering more than you let anyone see."

I grimaced at him, resisting the impulse to stick out my tongue like a five-year-old, and looked away.

"'I'm sorry I'm just trying to figure you out, I find you very difficult to read," Despite everything that I'd said and he'd guessed, he sounded like he meant it.

"You must be a good reader then," I replied.

"Usually." He smiled widely, flashing a set of perfect, ultra white teeth.

When the bell finally rang, Edward rushed as swiftly and as gracefully from the room as he had the last time. And, like last time, I stared after him in amazement.

Present

I remembered that day as if it was yesterday. How my heart thudded against my chest with anticipation and excitement when he finally spoke to me. From that day on my life seemed so easy. As long as I was with him I felt as though I could do anything.

"And after that day...I knew that my life would never be the same," I said truthfully.

We fell in love, got married and looked forward to living happily ever after.

Everything was perfect. Then life got in the way.