A/N: Well, I lied. I had thought that by writing the original one-shot, I'd get this damn story out of my head. Not so. If anything it only haunted me further. So I have decided to continue into a full length story. I have a basic idea/concept of how I want this to go but mostly, I'm just flying by the seat of my pants. So if you would like to take this ride with me, you are more than welcomed.

I am changing the rating on this and I hope that doesn't disappoint anyone. It will be M. I thought long and hard about this and I truly felt I would be doing a disservice to Edward's character by not telling the story this way.

Finally, I want to thank everyone that read/favorited/reviewed. Honestly, some of the reviews brought tears to my eyes because I understood exactly where some of you were coming from. What, where, why? You were right. I couldn't leave it like that; my mind and heart just wouldn't allow it.

I do not own Twilight and never will.....

The flight to Seattle was probably one of the most trying and exhausting one's since the first. I had become, over the years, accustomed to airports. The total miles EJ and I had flown were in the thousands, I was sure. However this flight was different. We were going home. Home to Edward.

It was difficult containing my excitement and nervousness over that fact. Six weeks had gone by since my call to Carlisle. Six weeks of worrying and stressing over what was going to happen once my plane touched down in Seattle. I had wanted to catch the first flight out after receiving Carlisle's note but speaking to him and realizing the extent of what was going on at home, I reluctantly agreed to wait.

I was filled with anxiety after my long conversation with Carlisle. He explained that Edward had been a POW for the last 5 years. He had been tortured, starved, and beaten the entire time and was only a shell of the boy we had once known. But the most terrifying thing was the fact that he was suffering from amnesia. The doctors were unable to determine specifically if it was due to a head trauma or a psychological one. While it did appear from the exams and scans preformed after his rescue and return to the states that he received multiple head wounds, nothing could be pinpointed within a time frame because Edward himself didn't know. Carlisle said upon returning home, Edward was volatile and unresponsive to any support him or Esme provided. It was clear from his tone and the hurt that dripped from it that Edward wanted nothing to do with the life he once had, including me. As a matter of fact, Carlisle was convinced that had he not told him about EJ, that Edward would have already been long gone and possibly never seen again. While he wasn't thrilled with the fact that he had a child, he was at least determined to provide for it.

I, however, wasn't a part of his plans. Apparently Esme attempted to do whatever within her small ability to influence Edward and paint me in the worst possible light. Carlisle said that she had become an alcoholic and even more bitter and hateful as the years passed. He had hoped Edward's arrival would change her ways and had his homecoming been a happy one for all parties concerned, it might have been the changing factor. But she was vengeful and spiteful of the fact that after finally having her son home, he no longer wanted anything to do with her. She pushed and tried to guilt him from day one and if anything it only further aggravated Edward. Carlisle had tried to tell him the truth of what happened after his supposed death, but it simply came down to the fact that Edward didn't know who to believe and therefore trusted no one. It was a; he said, she said situation and no amount of convincing from anyone was going to change that for him.

Not only was I walking into a potentially confusing confrontation with Edward, there were still questions and worries in regards to the legal actions that I was facing for taking EJ during the custody battle. Regardless of my reasons, in the eyes of the law it was kidnapping plain and simple. Edward agreed to keep my homecoming private for the time being, while Carlisle used the last six weeks doing everything in his power to see what could be done in order to prevent jail time. He had already secured me a lawyer and was using his considerable influence and money to see if anything could be done. It was agreed that I would have to turn myself in eventually and deal with the consequences of running but I was unsure of how I would be able to do that and take the risk of being away from EJ for any considerable amount of time. I knew he would be ok with Carlisle and eventually Edward (or so I hoped) but it didn't change the fact that EJ was my life and without seeing him or hugging him, I didn't know if I was physically capable of that separation. I expressed my concerns to Carlisle and he told me not to worry over it right now and if worse came to worse he was not above paying the appropriate people off. It consoled me enough to at least wait and see how this reunion went and go from there.

The reunion. I had practically begged Carlisle to let me speak to Edward, I wanted more than anything to hear his voice, to hear him say my name. I sounded pathetic to my own ears but I couldn't help myself. I had lived everyday of the last 5 years grieving for him, feeling like less than a whole person but the moment I read those words on the note Carlisle left me, everything shifted back into place. I know it was wrong and illogical to assume after hearing of Edward's condition that things would ever be the same between us again but I couldn't help but hope and I knew that I would never give up that hope, no matter what faced me in Forks.

The overhead light for the seatbelts came on, pulling me from my thoughts. Just a little while longer and we'd be home. Back to my hometown, where all my best and worst times happened. EJ would finally see his grandpa and by a twist of fate, his father. I ran my fingers through his unruly hair and couldn't help but smile. There was no doubt the minute Edward laid eyes on EJ he would immediately know he was his son. If nothing else happened between Edward and me, and at most we were ever just friends, it would be worth it if EJ had the chance to know and love his father. No matter the emotional pain it would cause me, this is my greatest wish.

Breathe Bella, I reminded myself. Edward was alive and all you have ever wanted was his happiness. Whatever that might be.

I spotted Carlisle before he did us. I watched in quiet amusement as he excitedly shook his head back and forth, obviously looking for our arrival. 5 years didn't change the handsome man in front of me, with the exception of the hint of more gray and the few wrinkles that creased around his eyes. He was standing no more than 10 feet in front of me, offering his profile. Even had there been numerous changes, I would have recognized those blue eyes anywhere. He had been my rock since the moment my life turned upside down and without him, I have no idea where or what would have become of EJ and I. I owed him everything and he was as much of a father to me as Charlie had been and I would always love his as such.

I was within touching distance when he finally turned to his left and caught my eye. My lips turned up into a wide smile as it registered that I was standing beside him. Before I could blink he had his arms around me and was turning me in a circle right in the middle of the terminal, causing me to let go of EJ to prevent him from falling over in the excitement. I found myself laughing harder than I had in years as Carlisle continued to swing me around, chanting "Welcome home, Bella" over and over again. I could pinpoint the exact moment that he remembered EJ when the spinning stopped and he jerked away from me, turning his head to the side and down. I was still in his arms but with enough distance to clearly see the look on his face. His body tensed and he stared at EJ with something akin to shock but within seconds his body relaxed and his eyes took on a glassy look from unshed tears. He turned back to me just as one lone tear escaped and rolled slowly down his cheek.

"Is that…he…oh my God…Edward?" He choked out the words, desperately trying to find the right thing to say.

I pulled myself from his arms and grabbed onto one hand, turning us and stepping up to EJ, who was now looking between Carlisle and I in strange bewilderment. He knew we were meeting Carlisle and he had seen a handful of pictures of him, so I assumed his apparent nervousness was not from Carlisle himself but from the attention our display of affection had shown. I flashed him a reassuring and loving smile and I received my favorite crooked one in return. Carlisle gripped my hand tighter and let out a small grasp at the sight of Edward's smile duplicated on his grandson's face.

I couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped me as I pulled him down so we were both eye level with EJ. He looked at Carlisle for a brief second, thinking, before he threw his small arms around his neck and buried his face into Carlisle's neck. I could tell my presence was no longer needed as Carlisle pulled away from my hand and wrapped his arms all the way around EJ's tiny body and lifted him in the air. The tears that he had been fighting against finally won and flowed fast and hard down his face. I didn't even realize I was crying until I felt the warm wetness slide down my throat and fall onto my shirt. Carlisle looked up with a smile so bright I was sure I'd never seen it grace his face before he pulled me over to them and we stood in the Seattle Airport huddled together in a reunion that was years in the making.

We finally made it to the car and settled in for the long drive back to Forks. Carlisle, EJ, and I caught up but mostly spoke over each other, as the excitement remained. We carefully avoided the subject of Edward while EJ was awake. He knew the basics about his father, where, when and why's. But the emotional and psychological strains would neither be welcomed nor understood by EJ. The moment he relaxed and after an hour or so of driving fell asleep, I couldn't resist any longer.

"Carlisle, tell me the truth. How bad is it really?" I asked but noticed that is grip on the steering wheel tightened.

"Physically, he looks different. Thinner but with more muscle mass, his hair is the shortest I've seen it since he was a baby, but all in all he looks like Edward. Mentally and emotionally, well that's a different story. He's guarded, untrusting, and prone to lash out at the drop of a hat. He only lived with me for a week when he returned home but it was long enough to see and hear. He sleeps very little and when he does he wakes in cold sweats, screaming and crying from the nightmares. He's quiet, almost scarily silent. Always looking, thinking, and watching. Bella, you will just have to see it to believe the difference."

"He and I have made a somewhat tentative truce. Well, more like he tolerates me when he has too. However, it comes with learning his ways and moods. Baby steps, I suppose for lack of a better word. He becomes angry when you ask him to remember things about his past or when he feels like he should feel a bond or connection to someone he doesn't. At first Esme was constantly trying to "jog" his memory. She pushed his favorite books and movies at him; hell she even put him in front of his piano and pushed his fingers into the keys in some desperate attempt he would remember how to play."

Carlisle sighed and his grip if possible tightened even further. "At first I think he wanted to remember, to have some sort of normalcy. He allowed her to do all those things and more, hoping to bring forth anything he could hold onto, but it only lasted a few days before he exploded in a rage, trashing everything in sight and leaving. It took me 3 days to find him; I tried to convince him to return, promising we wouldn't push him anymore. He wouldn't. When Esme found out where he was living, above Pete's bar, she harassed him day and night. Finally, he told her to never come around him anymore and that he wanted nothing to do with her. Or at least that is what I surmised from the conversation, she was crushed and defeated and drunk before she rented a car and driver and left to go back to Seattle. I haven't heard from her since."

"Did I tell you that they told me Edward was alive before anyone else?" I shook my head, waiting for him to continue. "My address and phone was the only one on record. I knew I had to tell her as soon as I found out and couldn't bear the thought of her learning by phone, like I had. I drove to her house in shock; honestly I don't even remember the drive. When she finally opened the door, I had barely gotten the words out before she launched herself into my arms, laughing and crying. She pulled back and Bella, I swear to God, my Esme was looking right at me. I don't think I even realized at the time, the amount of hope that sprung up in me. It was only later, after everything happened with Edward and she left again, that I felt it. It was like she stole my heart all over again."

I reached over and pried one hand from the steering wheel, rubbing comforting circles on the back of it. He turned and smiled at me and it was much like the smile he gave me the night he told me that EJ and I had to run. I remember the way that Esme and Carlisle were together, before Edward died, before the allegations of an affair happened. I had always hoped and prayed Edward and I would have that type of love and devotion. It still amazes me how quickly that could and did change. But more than anything it was a stark reminder of everything that Carlisle lost. He had been truly alone all these years whereas I had EJ to comfort me in the storm. Hope to him was a fragile thing and I hated to see it crushed, not only by Esme but Edward as well.

"Sorry, I'm getting away with myself. It's been too long since I've had someone to listen to me that knows what really happened back then." He flashed me quick smile and we both settled in quietly and comfortably for the remainder of the ride.

I watched the familiar landscape pass outside my window and tried to calm my raging emotions and thoughts. I was going in a million directions, thinking of the past, thinking of what was coming. I willed myself to live in the moment and deal with everything as it came and finally was able to relax somewhat when I realized we were pulling into the Cullen's long driveway.

Carlisle cut the engine and I expelled a shaky breath. Memories of the last time I had been in the Cullen's home flooded through me and I attempted to push the hurtful thoughts away. Luckily, I still had some time to gather my thoughts and feelings before coming face to face with Edward. Due to the late hour of our arrival, Carlisle had made the arrangements with him to come over tomorrow. But tonight I would be sleeping in Edward's bed once again and knowing that he had recently been there filled me with both comfort and nervousness.

Carlisle pulled EJ from the car and was taking him up to the guestroom. We shared a quiet goodnight in the foyer, I knew my way around. The place had changed quite a bit from the last time I had been there. It was obviously that Esme had taken the majority of the wall hangings and furniture. It filled me with saddest looking at the almost empty home, one that used to be so bright and comfortable and filled with love. Apparently Carlisle cared little for replacing the items that were taken and that thought only made me feel even worse for him. The sense of loneliness seemed to vibrate off the walls.

I found myself wandering from room to room until finally I took in the family room. The grand piano filled the space even more so with everything else gone. Lifting the lid, I found myself gently stroking my fingers over the black and white keys, never applying enough pressure to cause the keys to make any noise to keep from disrupting Carlisle and EJ. Other than Edward's room, this had always been my favorite in the house. Edward and I had spent many rainy days and nights in here. He would play for hours and I would sit beside him on the bench, leaning my head against his shoulder. I couldn't remember a time in my entire life that I felt more peaceful or content.

A chill settled against my skin and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. The electricity buzzed around the room like a live wire and it was a feeling I knew only too well. My heart pounded so loudly I was sure that it could be heard all through the house, as I tried to steady my all of a sudden harsh breathing. I knew what I would find when I turned around. I could feel his eyes burning straight through me and I was both nervous and ecstatic to finally be face to face with the father of my son and the man I would love until the day I died.

I finally worked up the courage to turn to face him, only after reminding myself that I couldn't run and jump in his arms like I truly wanted too. Even with Carlisle's warnings and my own imagination, nothing could have prepared me for the sight of Edward standing in the entryway of the room.

His arms were crossed over his chest and feet crossed at the ankle, as he leaned up against the door facing. I took in every ounce of his long legs incased in black boot cut jeans that fit stung to his body. The grey t-shirt only enhanced his toned stomach and chest. He was no longer a man in a boy's body, this Edward was all man. I continued my perusal, taking in the short red hair and tense set of his jaw, saving my favorite part for last.

His eyes. They say that the eyes are the windows to our soul and it was true in Edward's case. In his I could see everything. He could never hide behind an emotion or thought whenever I looked there, they always betrayed him. I expected to see curiosity or confusion but I never thought I would see nothing. His eyes were dead. No emotion shined through them and it completely scared me that Edward could look like this. I could feel the distance and coolness rolling off of him in waves and all the stress of the last few weeks finally caught up to me.

My vision started clouding over and I felt myself swaying side to side. My last conscious thought was of the man in front of me, as the darkness enveloped me and his name fell from my lips.

"Edward"