A.N.:- Ok so this is my first attempt at writing a fan fiction. I originally wanted to fit everything in one chapter but then decided not to cramp the story like that. So this is going to be a short story. Hope you like it anyway.

Disclaimer- Stephanie Meyer owns the characters. I just make them do what I want.

Bella Swan's eyes fluttered open as she took in her surroundings. Pale blue walls, the beeping of the monitor…yes she was still in the hospital…no big surprise there. Stress wasn't good for her pregnancy after all and they'd made her stay overnight for observation after she had collapsed after the meeting. The surprising element was that she wasn't alone. Her best friend…well ex-best friend… Alice was sitting beside her bed.

"A-alice?" her voice was almost a croak.

"You're awake." Her's was a distracted monotone, almost as if she were thinking of something else. "I'll buzz the nurse."

"Wh-why are you here?"

"I'm your emergency contact."

"Oh."

"I need to talk to you," Alice said, while Bella was signing her discharge papers.

"ok." There was once again a note of surprise in Bella's voice. Alice hadn't spoken to her since…since…she tried not to remember…

"I love you. I missed you so much"…

"I'm pregnant."…..

"h-how is that possible"…..

Silence was her only reply so that he could make his assumptions.

"You-you cheated on me?"

He was gone the next morning.

They were pulling up outside her new building by the time she had managed to pull herself back to the present.

They went in, Alice in the lead, and flopped down on the plush chairs in the sitting room.

"Do you want anything to drink?"

"Don't be ridiculous."

They sat in silence for a while, the pause anything but comfortable. Then Alice broke it.

"Why did you lie to my brother Bella?"

She couldn't answer. For a moment she thought she may have figured out the truth before realizing that she must be talking about cheating. After that she chose not to answer.

Unable to give her once-best friend any more time to answer, she burst out.

"Why did you tell my brother you cheated Bella? I don't know what happened to you but I know you didn't cheat on him."

"H-how?"

"You talk in your sleep."

"I-I-I" she stuttered

Alice ignored her and continued. "You know when Edward told me that you cheated on him I was so shocked. It seemed impossible that you'd do something like that. You were head over heels in love. You were excited about starting a new family as soon as his last stint in the army was over. You had it all planned out and you're not the kind of person to let that go for sex."

Bella couldn't feel the muscles of her face. It was as if it was numb. Her palms were dripping with sweat. Droplets beaded on her forehead as Alice forged on.

"Now I realize that the reason it seemed so impossible is because it is. So tell me Bells what really happened to you."

It was the stupid nickname that did her in. Her shoulders shook as sobs wracked her body. And then it all spilled out like a dam bursting. She could still see it in front of her eyes like a horror movie replying over and over and over…just like it did every night when she could no longer keep it from her consciousness with force.

"James-he-he…"

"The asshole who was working with you on that article? The one who kept hitting on you even after you told him you weren't interested?"

"Y-yes."

"What did he do Bella?" her voice was almost a growl.

It was so hard to force herself to say the words. Saying it out loud would make her nightmare real… the wondering hands, the bruising lips, the toss she'd taken, hitting her head on the corner of the coffee table, the taste of blood from her cut lip, the feel of it as it dripped down her face as she lay there dazed, the tearing off of her clothes despite her now feeble struggles, and finally…finally…

"He raped me." Her voice was dead, just as her soul had been from that day. Finding out that she was pregnant was the last nail on the coffin. Because at that moment she knew that the nightmare was as real as it gets. She also knew that any hopes of keeping Edward were gone. The nightmare would never end.

"Wha-oh! Bella!" Alice raised a shaking hand to her mouth. She had suspected something of the sort from the words Bella had muttered as she tossed and turned in her sleep but to have them confirmed…

They sat in silence for a while, tears dripping down Alice's face as Bella stared unseeingly at her clasped hands.

"Why didn't you just tell Edward? You know he would have helped you. I would have helped you!"

"I'm broken Alice. Beyond broken, I feel dead. No one deserves to be with someone like that. Edward deserves someone whole. Happy. Wh-when the divorce is finalized, he can move on and at least one of us will be happy."

"Did Edward look HAPPY to you when you saw him yesterday?"

No he hadn't. He had looked almost as bad as she felt. It was in the was he walked, the bruise-like dark circles around his eyes that matched hers, the way he wouldn't look at her, hell, even in the way he sat or spoke. The ordeal of seeing him and in that state had been too much for her. It was probably the reason she had collapsed.

But she still had arguments against telling him…sound arguments as she had told herself a million times in the last month.

"I don't want him to have to deal with this baby Alice. I couldn't kill it. I went to an appointment but I couldn't. It's innocent. But Alice I can't love it. I can't love my own baby! How can I expect him to love it when I can't? When I- when I'm…"

Her voice tapered off as she gave herself over to tears once more.

Alice held her, soothing her, till she was calm again.

When she spoke, her voice was gentle but firm.

"I think you should tell Edward. He deserves to know. If you leave him after that it's your choice but tell him the truth."

"Alice I can't. I really can't Alice! Saying it out loud to you was so hard. Telling him, letting him know that…I just can't!"

"Tell him or I will."

"Alice," Bella groaned.

"And Bella, I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. I should've-"

"You couldn't have done anything Ally. I practically told Edward I cheated on him. It's not like you believed someone else's words over mine."

"Thanks bells." She hugged her friend once more. "So what happened to the asshole?"

"He's running free. There wasn't enough evidence. I showered like the idiot I am. I just had to get his smell off me. Another reason I didn't tell anyone."

"SO THE RAT BASTARD IS RUNNING FREE AND CAN GET TO YOU AT ANY TIME?"

Bella flinched at the volume. She was still easily spooked which is why she's switched to a desk job at the paper.

"No. I got a restraining order and he's not from here anyway so he's probably gone back to New York by now. And I changed my house."

Alice still seemed dissatisfied but let it slide for the time being as there were more pressing matters to discuss.

"I'm going to send Edward over in a couple of days." She stated, going on with no heed to her friend's panicked expression. "You will tell him the truth then or I will."

"Alice," she whined

"No! Don't you Alice me! He deserves to know this if anyone does. And you will tell him. What you do after that, whether you run like the wind again or have awesome make up sex is up to you but you'll tell him."

"ok." She sighed. "You're right. I'll tell him."

"Good." Alice smiled for the first time all day. "And Bella you're not alone in this. You're my best friend and I'll help whatever way I can."

Silent tears leaked from Bella's eyes down her cheeks but for the first time in two months, a small smile graced her lips and a little piece of her soul came back to life from the ashes.

A.N.:- Reviews are as welcome as make-up sex with Edward! :)