Chapter Two

"What the Hell!"

Carlisle's POV

I woke up in the hotel suite that I was staying in with my sons quite early on Saturday morning with a mixture of joy and trepidation. My youngest son was getting married today. I knew he didn't love her, anyone could see that. He was only doing it to please his mother. But she would be good for him and was good to him, and would take care of him. I never could deny his mother anything either, especially when she started crying. Which is what she often did when the subject of Edward and Tanya came up, them being together meant so much to her and her best friend. Edward didn't seem to be completely unhappy with the situation so I let it go. He just needed someone to keep him on the right path and Tanya would. She was a sweet girl who loved Edward very much and only wanted the best for him. If her mother, Carmen, was still alive, she would be so proud of what a wonderful lady her daughter turned out to be.

I crawled out of bed and went to find the boys. It was 7:30 and we had a 9 o'clock tee time. I went to Edward's room first and found it empty. It only took a few minutes of searching the suite and waking everyone to find that he wasn't there. Emmett suggested that maybe he went for a swim as Edward loved to do laps to clear his head. When I tried to call his phone I was surprised to hear it ringing on the other side of the door. Upon opening the door I found an envelope taped to the door and Edward's cell phone on the floor. I picked them both up and retreated back into the room opening the letter as I went.

Dear Beloved family:

I am sorry to hurt you this way but I just can't do it. I cannot marry a woman that I do not love and who I know does not love me and does not even care enough to be faithful to me before we are even married. I would have liked it if I felt that I could do the mature thing and tell you this in person, but I feel that no one will listen to me. No one has ever asked me what I wanted, I have always been instructed. Yes I made a horrible mistake all those years ago. But I was only 10; I think I have paid enough for my choices that day. I didn't even get the choice or option to propose, Mom wrapped the ring and put it under the tree without telling me about it.

I know Mom will be upset with me and hurt and I am sorry about that but I have decided to follow my heart and do what makes me happy. So, I am leaving to travel the world with a wonderful woman I met, her name is Bella and she is amazing. I know it seems rash to run off with someone I just met but I really don't care. I will keep in touch somehow every so often letting you know that we are fine and when I get back I will decide what I want to do with my future.

I love you all and hope that you will forgive me someday.

Edward.

I stood there looking at the paper for a moment before I looked up at everyone else in the room, "He's gone. He ran off with some girl named Bella in the middle of the night." I was just astounded that he would do that. It only took half a second before my son and future son in law started cheering and exclaiming how happy they were that Edward finally pulled his head out of his ass and put a stop this.

"Did you two know that she was cheating on him with someone?"

"Not with someone dad, but with someone's, plural. The girl is a whore who can't keep her pants on. I should know. I caught her." Emmett spoke up. Wow. Just Wow!
"Why didn't anyone ever say something?" I was outraged that something this important wasn't brought to our attention.

"Edward asked us not to. Esme would never let anyone say anything negative about Princess Tanya and Edward felt it just wouldn't do any good trying. She really has Esme snowed into believing that she is so amazing, but she's nothing but a gold digger." Yeah, apparently my wife isn't the only one that fell for her little act.

"You knew too, Jasper?"
"Yes, Alice has caught her too."

"Damn it. So, now I get to tell my wife the wedding is off. But who is going to tell the bride?"
"Dad, I think the question is going to be who gets to tell the bride because I think there may be a cat fight between Alice and Rose over who gets to do the honors!"

I just grimaced and pulled out my phone to call my wife asking her to come to our suite with Alice and Rose. I told her what was going on and let her read the letter for herself. She looked up at us with tears in eyes.

"Is this true? She had an affair?"

"Yes, mom, more than once actually, there were four men that we know of, I believe that there are more that we don't know of" Alice spoke up. At that point my wife started to turn red and I thought I saw a little smoke coming out of her ears. I swear I have never seen my wife this angry. EVER.

Esme POV

That little bitch. I trusted her. I loved her like a daughter. I thought she loved my son and I pushed him to marry her. I never would have done that if I thought she was hurting him like that. I always rationalized my pushing for this marriage as many cultures do arranged marriages and the couples are usually happy. And at least Edward and Tanya had had the advantage of knowing each other their entire lives. I thought that I chose the right person for him. I thought that I was doing what was best for him. He was a dreamer and needed someone to keep him grounded, to protect him from himself. His dreaming tendencies and irresponsibility is why we had to leave our home and family and relocate to Phoenix in the first place. Well I was wrong and now I am pissed.

"I better go tell the blushing bride that there will be no wedding. I just hope that Edward will forgive me someday for what I've done."

Tanya was getting ready to go to the spa with her sisters when we got to the suite. I was so livid I was actually going to take great pleasure in this. I knocked on the door and waited for Kate to open the door and I just pushed her aside and march in right up to Tanya with a smile on my face.

"Good morning Esme. Or should I officially call you Mom now." She laughed. I never realized how annoying her laugh was until now.

"Actually, you should call me your worst nightmare." I said sweetly as her smile faltered. "The wedding is off. My son ran off in the middle of the night because his bitch of a mother was forcing him to marry a no good, gold digging, cheating whore!" She looked like she was about to deny it when one look over my shoulder at Alice and Emmett changed her mind. I just turned and walked out of the room listening to my children and their spouses celebrating and going off on Tanya, like I guess they've been wanting to for awhile. I knew that my husband was following me. He kept quiet but held me as I sat on the sofa and cried. My Edward, my baby, was gone and it was entirely my fault. . Tanya's mother Carmen had been my best friend growing up. If she was alive today she would be appalled to see what a vile woman her daughter turned out to be. And that too was my fault. I just hope that wherever he was he was safe and happy. Most importantly that he was happy with this Bella, whoever she was.

BPOV

He had looked so sad sitting there at the bar, yet so gorgeous at the same time. Normally, I wouldn't be that bold but I had been drinking and talking to my best friend, Angela, on the phone. A safety precaution that her fiancé, Ben, had insisted on when I told him I was taking this trip solo. If I went to a bar, I was to call Angela and tell her when I got there and text at least every half hour until I left. That way they'd know that I was safe. Ben even went as far as to try to demand that if I was going to hook with some guy I was to text his full name and home address them with a photo. He was a little insane about it but I know that he just cares about me. I was glad that I had friends like them, there was no one else left to care about me anymore. I was alone. He finally backed off when Angela insisted that a serial killer wouldn't give me his real information anyway.

I was still talking to Angela, telling her about this sad guy and she encouraged me to talk to him. So, I did. He was amazing too. I think I fell for him the first time he looked into my eyes. By the time we were through talking I got really bold. He needed a reason and I gave it to him. I invited him to come with me and wrote down my room number. I left him to decide what he wanted to do. He showed up at my door fifteen minutes later looking a lot happier than when I had left him at the bar asking where we were going to first. My internal cheerleader was having a huge cheer fest that this amazing and gorgeous man wanted to travel the world with me. When I went to get the valet to bring my bike around the this morning I sent a text to Angela letting her know that Edward was coming along with me and I'd call her later. We had to stop by a bike shop before we hit the highway. My father was the police chief back home and I abided all traffic laws. And I didn't want anything to happen to his pretty face. We picked up helmets that had headsets in them so that we could talk. We had a lot to talk about so that we could get to know each and I sure as hell didn't want to spend our evenings in a hotel room saying anything but an occasional scream of "Oh GOD!"

We figured that we would get into San Diego about 10:30 and we would eat then. I think he really just wanted to get out of town before his family woke up. I couldn't blame him, they were really controlling when it came to his life. It wasn't until I merged onto the 105 that I felt him relax and leave all the stress behind him.

I had reservations at the Embassy Suites on the bay for the next night. I wasn't always going to stay in fancy hotels, there wasn't always going to be one available. But I was going to enjoy the option while I could. Especially since money wasn't an issue for me anymore. But, tonight Edward was in for a surprise. The zoo has a sleep over program and I signed up for it. I called this morning while he was in the shower to tell them that I had a guest coming with me.

We talked on the drive about animals that we wanted to see, the first on his list were the big cats and for me it was the polar bears. I had always enjoyed watching them swim and play at the zoo at home.

We took tons of pictures of ourselves throughout the day on my digital camera. At one point in the afternoon we stopped for ice cream and he asked about our hotel arrangements for the night. He seriously shocked me when he got totally excited about camping in the zoo. I believe that his exact words were "OH MY GOD! Are you fucking kidding me! My brother and I always wanted to go camping but the rest of out family was too prissy to do it. Wait until I tell him that we camped at the zoo. He is going to be so jealous."

As we finished our ice cream I brought up a subject that was bothering me for awhile.

"Uh, Edward, I am little surprised that your family isn't hounding you on your phone."

"That's because I left it behind when I left the letter. I am not ready to talk to them yet."

"I completely understand that, Edward I do."

We made our way over to the polar bears and sat talking while we watched them play.

"Tell me about your parents, Bella."
"Well, they were wonderful people. My father was the Chief of Police and my mom ran a home daycare. I used to help out with the babies after school."

"What happen to the drunk driver that killed them?"

"He got Probation and community service."

"Really, that's it, why not manslaughter?"
"He was only 15." Edward turned and gaped at me.

"15 years old. Where the hell did he find someone stupid enough to serve him?

"His parents. They were wealthy and spoiled and thought that they owned the town. Well, I proved them wrong."

'What do you mean?"
"I sued them. I was angry. When their son took my parents from me, he took everything away from me. I was hurting and wanted them to hurt too. Angela's parents supported me in my decision to sue, the whole town did. I took everything they owned. That is how I am funding this trip."

"Wow. That makes me feel guilty about being 18 and having a fake ID."

"There is a difference. We are 18, legal adults, even if the government doesn't believe we are mature enough to choose to drink. It was Mike's 15th birthday. Those three years mean a lot when it comes to maturing and knowing right from wrong. Like not getting behind the wheel of a car, even sober, when you're not old enough to drive at all. But, seeing as his Mom gave him the car for his 14th birthday in the first place, maybe maturity doesn't come with age but with experience"

"Oh my God! MY family comes from money and we were pretty spoiled. But my parents would never have allowed that."

"Have you ever seen that old TV show "Little House on the Prairie?" He nodded that he had. "The Newton's are the Olson. They even have an older daughter, Lauren that makes Nellie Olson look like a cherub angel."

"Oh dear GOD! Are the kids still with the parents?"

"No. They were taking into protective custody and placed in foster care. Mr. and Mrs. Newton disappeared after I won the lawsuit. The rumors are that they fled to Seattle in shame. I hear she's now a waitress at IHOP."

Needing to change this subject before I started crying for thinking about my parents, I went for what I thought would a safe question about his past.

"So Edward, have you lived in Phoenix your whole life?"

"No. We had to move there when I was ten."

"Why? Where did you live before?"

"We lived in LA. We had to move because I was a dreamer and behaved stupidly."

"I don't understand what you mean."

"I was a dreamer, like I said. I would slip off and write all the time. My parents didn't know about my writing. Well my father didn't, I told him once and he told me that it was a waste of time and I needed to focus on more important things. My Mother supported me and bought me journals to write in. Well, one day I went for a walk in the woods behind our house. There was a meadow there where I would secretly write and had a safe place for all my journals. No one knew about my meadow. Not even my Mother. I was there a long time lost in my writing. I thought it was getting dark when I finished my story so I started heading home. It turned out that what I thought was darkness falling was really smoke from a forest fire. I ended up getting lost in the darkness and smoke and lost consciousness. I was lucky enough that a fireman found me before the actual fire did, I had apparently been walking toward the fire, away from the house. But the damage to my lungs was done. I was going to have trouble with my lungs for the rest of my life. It suggested by my doctor that we relocate to Phoenix for my health. My brother and sister were furious with me because they had to leave all their friends behind. My parents forbade me to do anymore writing. It didn't matter anyway, all my journals were destroyed. I was monitored closely after that, never allowed to wander off on my own, punished if I was caught daydreaming. That's when my parents decided to plan my life for me. I know that they love me and that the biggest part of it was that they went through four hours of not knowing where I was when the reports of fire came in and the terror of realizing that they may have to leave without me if the evacuation order came in to save my brother and sister. Then their worst fear was confirmed. I almost died in that fire. They almost lost me because of my writing. It's that guilt that's led me to do anything possible to make them happy. To make up for what I did and the trouble I caused for my whole family" I had tears streaming down my face. The poor boy. His poor parents. I understood their motivations more now, but it still didn't make it right. Forcing him to be what they wanted him to be and not giving him any choices in his life.

"Oh, Edward. I can't even imagine what that must have been like, the fear you had when lost in the woods, and your parents, what they went through looking for you. I could have lost you before I even got the chance to meet you. But still, I am so angry, they let their fear of losing you cause them to do things that made you lose you, it's just not right! Oh God, I really need to stop crying now. We are in the middle of the zoo and people are looking at me like I'm crazy."

"Yeah, that was a little heavy for a discussion over ice cream."

By that time it was time to sign in for the campout so we wandered in that direction our hands joined together swinging between us. It was a fun night and was made all the better by the fact that Edward was with me, holding me all night and even though all we could do was kiss a little because there were children in the other tents it was still one of the best nights of my life.

The next morning I woke and his arms and he smiled at me and asked, "I know it's a little late to be asking, but what is your last name?" I just laughed and responded.

"Swan, my full name is Isabella Marie Swan and you?"

"Cullen. Edward Anthony Mason Cullen."

"Well, Edward Anthony Mason Cullen, what shall we do with our day? Should we stay and see more of the zoo or go to the beach?"

"The beach, I am definitely not stupid enough to pass up seeing you in a wet bathing suit. It is a bikini right? String? "

"You are incorrigible. You do know that?"

He grabbed my face and kissed me passionately and looking right into my eyes said, "And the weird thing is that I never was really interested in sex. I've only ever been with her, and it was never really that exciting. But the other night was simply the most amazing experience of my life." With that he helped me up and we left to check into our hotel. We both really needed a long hot shower before we went swimming, preferably together. California has this thing about water conservation, right? I mean, it would be a huge sacrifice to share my shower with Edward but we all must do what we can for the environment.

'What are you smirking about?"

"Oh. I am just contemplating way that I can help save the environment." I responded blushing deeply. He gave me a "yeah right!" look while laughing at me as we made our way to the parking lot.

We spent the day at the beach learning to surf and playing in the shallow water. Edward damn near had a heart attack when I wiped out for the first time. I am a bit uncoordinated and it took some time to be able to get up on the board. But it was amazing riding the waves with Edward right beside me.

And there was kissing. There was a lot of kissing. And there was more talking. We did not know everything about each other yet, but we would in time. I was, however convinced by this point that I was completely falling in love with him and by the way that he looked at me, I knew that he felt the same. It was crazy, I know, but love is like that sometimes.

For dinner we joined a group of friends that we had made while surfing at a campfire dinner. After dinner Edward and I went for a walk on the beach before heading back to the hotel. We sat on the beach holding each other when Edward pulled me tighter to him and kissed my hair. "Bella, I know we just met and I may be completely crazy for saying this so soon, but, I am positive that I am in love you with you. I love you and I want to be with you always."

There was no thinking about my answer at all. I turned in his arms and tackled him with tears streaming down my face, "If you are crazy then so am I because I am in love you too!" Then he kissed me again and held me close to his chest.

The next morning we stopped at Wal-Mart on our way out of town to print our pictures. He had me get a second set made to mail to his family. When I gave him a questioning look he simply stated that while he still did not want to call them he did want them to know that he was fine. He included the note:

"I love you all and I am well and extremely happy!

Love always,

Edward.

P.S.

Emmett, checkout the pictures of us camping at the San Diego Zoo, it was amazing.

A/N

I promise that I won't keep jumping POV's and being repetitive in the chapters. They all demanded that I let them have their say. Most of the story will be alternated between Edward and Bella. But I will throw in more of the family's POVs. If you have tourist trap idea you'd like to see them go to, I am open to suggestions. I don't have their whole trip planned yet, but I have a few locations that they will go to. My pen name should give you a clue to one destination, LOL! I just hope that their stop there goes better than my trip last week! There is a picture of Bella's ducati on my profile at FFn. I will be adding pictures there a lot throughout the story.

Two points that I would like to make. I know that what happened to Edward when he was 10 was overly dramatic. It had to be. There had to be a huge catalyst for making Esme snap and become so overbearing. It had to be near death. What happened to the Newton's (the spoiled rich family the destroyed Bella's) was based on what happened to a family in my town. They were rich and popular. The father played college ball, I think he got the Heissman trophy, and they owned a chain of furniture stores that they built from the ground up. Well, they thought it was a good idea to host a party for their kids and hire bartenders. Someone called the police and the party was raided. People were so angry and disgusted with the parents that it didn't take long for the stores to file bankruptcy and their home to be foreclosed on. Updates should be every Tuesday. If there is going to be a delay I will post on my blog or on twitter. See my profile of FFn for those links.

For the disclaimer: Please see chapter one! Thanks!