Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Twilight characters.

Chapter 1

Bella's POV

I'm now 17. Charlie's beatings got steadily more frequent and more violent over the years.

When I finally came to, it was 9:00 and I was late for school. As I went to get up off the floor, a very sharp pain shot up my leg and another shot through my wrist. If I hadn't built a tolerance for pain over the last 8 years, I would have screamed. Nonetheless, tears flowed down my cheeks and my breathing became painful.

I pushed myself slowly up off the floor and went to the bathroom to survey the damage. The entire left side of my face was bruised; that was going to be difficult to hide. My hair was matted with dry blood from the small gash on my forehead. I peeled my clothes from my body and examined myself in the mirror. My torso and upper arms were covered in black, blue, purple, brown, and only three spots of yellow. I looked at my wrist and saw that it was a frightening shade of blue; it was definitely broken. I had a huge burn on my stomach and I didn't remember how I got it. That shocked me; I usually remembered how I got my injuries, I had to so that I could come up with convincing explanations for how I got them. Then I moved on to my legs. The right leg was spotted with blue and purple bruises. The left was a different story; the shin had turned black and sharp pains were shooting through my body every time I moved it. It was definitely broken.

I got in the shower and washed as much blood out of my hair as I could. When I finally got out of the shower, I went to my room and checked the clock. It was 9:45. Crap, Charlie's gonna kill me when he gets home.

I quickly but gently pulled on my jeans and a black turtleneck. I went back to the bathroom and put cover-up on all my bruises and the gash. Once I was sure nothing was visible, I ran as fast as I could to my beat-up red truck and drove to school.

By the time I got to the school parking lot, the only spot open was next to a silver Volvo that I'd never seen before. It was by far the fanciest car in the lot.

I didn't have much time to look at the car and try to figure out who owned it because it was already 10:15 and I had to hurry to get to third period on time. Every time I moved, I winced in pain, lessening the progress I was making despite my best efforts.

I was five minutes late for biology. I mumbled some excuse about not being able to find my car keys and my car not having gas. The teacher shot me a warning look and waved me to my seat.

I glanced around the room and noticed that there was someone sitting at my table. He had messy, bronze-colored hair, pale white skin, and topaz-colored eyes.

I flushed when I realized I had been staring at him for a few seconds without moving. I looked down and started toward my seat. I could feel the eyes of every person in the room follow me to my seat.

I was very careful with each move I made, not showing any emotion as I internally screamed with every step I took. As I put my books on the table, I couldn't stop the wince when I bent my wrist too much. The boy's eyes seemed to darken as I gently lowered myself into my seat with my mouth twisted into a grimace of pain.

When I looked at his eyes, I saw confusion, frustration, pain, anger, and one more emotion I wasn't familiar with all jumbled together, each one fighting for dominance. I soon found myself trapped by his stare. A few seconds later, he turned away, releasing me from his gaze. As soon as he looked away, I turned toward the teacher and shifted my hair over my shoulder to form a wall between us.

We sat like that for the rest of the period. When the bell finally rang for lunch, I turned my back to him and started to collect my things. I couldn't stop the wince when I bent to get my bag. I could feel the burn crack and blood well up in the cracks. I could only hope I could get to the bathroom before the blood started flowing. Suddenly, I heard a soft, musical voice behind me.

"Excuse me." he said, obviously trying to get my attention. I turned to look at him, wondering what he could want. Once I was fully facing him, he spoke again.

"Hello. I'm Edward Cullen and I'll be your lab partner. What's your name?" he asked. His eyes were smoldering.

"Isabella Swan. But please just call me Bella." I mumbled as I started to rise from the chair.

"Are you okay? You look like you're in a lot of pain."

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Just give me a call if you need anything. My father is a doctor at the hospital."

"I'm fine. I'll see you later."

I ran out of the room with one last glance at Edward Cullen.

I ran all the way to the bathroom next to the cafeteria doors. I checked under all the stalls to make sure no one was in there and then went and got a stack of paper towels. I soaked them with water then laid on the floor and pulled my shirt up so I could see the burn. The skin was cracking and blood was starting to leak out of the cracks. I took a paper towel and squeezed it over the burn. I sighed as the cold water hit the burn.

I got up and took a second paper towel and started to wipe away some of the blood. Just then, a small, pixy-like girl with spiky black hair came in. I quickly pulled down my shirt, wincing as I scraped some skin off the burn.

"Hi. I'm Alice Cullen. Would you like to sit with me and my family for lunch today?"

I turned to find the girl staring intently at me. "Um, sure. I guess. I'll be out in a minute."

She smiled. "Okay, then. I'll be right outside." She turned and danced out of the bathroom.

I turned back toward the sink and quickly wiped my burn with another paper towel. I panicked when I saw more blood on the paper towel than before. I grabbed a few more paper towels and stuck them between my shirt and the burn. As I was sticking the paper towels on the burn, Alice came back in. I started and spun around to face her.

"What happened to your stomach?"

"I spilled grease on myself making dinner last night. Don't worry about it. I'm fine." I finished putting the towels on my burn and turned back to her. "Let's go to lunch."

She grabbed my sore wrist and turned and left the bathroom with me in tow. She pulled me into the cafeteria and over to her family. I recognized Edward by his messy bronze hair. By this point, the pain in my wrist was almost unbearable. As we neared the table, the blond haired boy winced and wrapped his arms around himself.

"Hi Alice. Hi Bella," Edward greeted us when we got to the table.

"Hi Edward."

"Bella, I would like to introduce my family." Alice pointed to the blond haired girl. "That's Rosalie." She pointed to the huge boy with curly black hair. "That's Emmett, my brother and Rosalie's boyfriend." She released my wrist and went to sit by the blond haired boy. "And this is my boyfriend and Rosalie's brother, Jasper. Are you okay? Why are you crying?"

I hadn't even realized I had tears running down my cheeks. Without thinking, I lifted my sore wrist and wiped the tears from my cheeks. I winced and I noticed Jasper wince, too. Edward gently pulled my arm toward him. He pulled the sleeve up to my elbow and everyone besides me gasped. I looked around at all of them. They were all staring at my wrist which was still pitch black.

"Bella, what happened?"

Oh, crap. How was I supposed to answer that? 'Oh, um, my dad's abusive and he beats me almost every night. Last night, he stomped on my wrist and snapped it.' If I told them that, they would all be in danger. If Charlie killed them because he found out I let it slip, I would feel even worse than I did right now.

"I'm clumsy. I fell down the stairs last night. That's also why I'm limping, as I'm sure you noticed."

"Bella, you should go to a hospital!" Alice said.

"No, I can't. I have to go to class."

"Nonsense, Bella. Come with me, I'll take you to my dad. I'll have him write a doctor's note." I looked at Edward and saw that no matter what he was going to make sure I went to the hospital. I groaned but nodded.

Edward stood and led me out of the cafeteria toward the silver Volvo.

"What about my truck?" I asked, pointing to my red truck.

"I'll have Alice drop it by your house."

"Okay. Could you make sure I get home by 3:30? I have to have dinner on the table by the time Charlie gets home."

"Of course."

He opened the door for me and I got in. He shut the door and got in the driver's seat. He started the car and within five minutes we were at the hospital. He opened my door and as I got out, my knee gave out and I fell. Edward caught me and carried me into the hospital. For some reason, I felt safe for the first time in eight years as he held me. He walked right up to the counter.

"Could you page Dr. Cullen for me? Tell him his son is here and that it's urgent," he asked the secretary.

"Of course, Edward. One moment please."

"Thank you."

One minute later, a man came around the corner. He had blond hair and looked to be no older than thirty. When he spotted me in Edward's arms, his eyes widened.

"What happened, Edward? Who is this?"

"Carlisle, this is Bella. She fell down the stairs last night and banged up her wrist and leg pretty bad. I think you need to take a look at her."

Carlisle nodded and led us into an exam room. Edward placed me on the bed and made to move away. I grabbed his arm and pulled him back to me. "Stay, please."

Edward studied my expression for a moment. "If you really want me to." I nodded frantically. He studied my face again and sat down on the bed next to me. I leaned my head on his shoulder and he slowly put his arm around my shoulders. He held me like that until Carlisle came back with a paper hospital dress.

"I need you to put this on for me. Do you want us to leave so you can change?"

"No, please stay. I don't care." I got up slowly and started to take the bloody paper towels out of my shirt. I heard Edward gasp as I pulled numerous blood soaked paper towels out of my shirt and put them in a pile on the table. Then, I slowly pulled my turtleneck up over my head and laid it on the table. I undid my belt and unbuttoned and unzipped my jeans, letting them fall to the floor. I kicked them under the table and was reaching for the hospital gown when Carlisle grabbed it.

"It would be easier to do the physical exam without this, if you don't mind."

"Okay. Fine." I shrugged. Bad idea seeing as I was suddenly very sore. I winced and my eyes filled with tears. Carlisle noticed.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I'll need to wash my face if you want to do a full exam."

"Of course. The bathroom is right over there."

I walked into the bathroom and washed the cover up off my face. I left the door open just in case my knees gave out again. When I got all the cover up off, I dried off my face and went back out to Carlisle and Edward. I looked at Edward and saw that he was livid with anger.

I sat back down beside Edward. I put my head on his shoulder and suddenly started crying. Edward wrapped his arms around me and started humming something that sounded like a lullaby. I calmed down almost immediately. Edward removed one of his arms so that Carlisle could begin the physical. To my dismay, he started with the huge and still bleeding burn on my stomach.

"Bella, could you please tell me how you got a third degree burn on your stomach? Last I checked, it was extremely difficult to do that."

Edward spoke before I could. "She told Alice that she spilled grease on herself as she was making dinner last night."

"Were you using the stove? Only grease from a frying pan would be hot enough to do this much damage unless you just laid on a greasy stove." By the end of that, I was crying and shaking my head. Carlisle had a serious expression on his face. "Bella, I need you to tell me the truth."

I buried my face in Edward's chest and started sobbing uncontrollably. "I can't tell you. If he finds out I told you, he'll make me watch as he kills you, then he'll torture me to death."

"Bella, if you tell me, I can help you."

"I have nowhere to go."

"What about your mother? Where does she live?"

"My mother and stepfather were murdered when I was nine. Charlie is all I have left."

"Bella, you are more than welcome to come stay with me and my family. We will protect you."

"No one can protect me. Can you please finish the exam? I need to have dinner ready by 5:30 or else."

"One last question, Bella. How much do you weigh and when was the last time you ate?"

"I don't know how much I weigh and the last time I ate was last Thursday at lunch. I had half a cheeseburger out of a McDonalds trashcan."

"I need you to lie down. That gash will need stitches. Your wrist and leg are broken. I'll have to put casts on them. Tell me what hurts when I move it."

Every time he touched me, I winced. Apparently, I had bruises everywhere and I wondered if he noticed that most of them were hand prints. I had three broken ribs and a fractured collar bone. He stitched up my head, put casts on my wrist and leg, and wrote a doctor's note to give to the school tomorrow.

When he was finished, Edward carried me out to his car and drove me home. Charlie's cruiser was already parked in the driveway. Oh, shit. Charlie's home early.

I got out of the car and wobbled up to the front door. I heard Edward start the car and turned in time to see him drive away. I turned back toward the door and, taking a deep breath, I turned the handle and pushed the door open.

I was greeted by Charlie's hand grabbing my throat and yanking me into the house. He slammed the door shut and slammed my head against the wall.

"Where have you been?" he bellowed. Then he looked down and saw my casts. His eyes went wide and his face turned purple. "Where did you get those?"

"I was taken to the hospital by Dr. Cullen's son, Edward. I didn't want to go but he made me," I whimpered.

"What did you tell them?"

"They asked me what happened and I told them that I was extremely clumsy and fell down the stairs. I didn't speak a word about what really happened. I know I deserve it."

"You're damn right, you deserve it, worthless slut! Renee is dead because of you and I'm going to make you pay for it!"

With that, he punched me in the stomach, right in the middle of my burn, and released his hold on my throat. I fell to the floor, screaming in agony. He yanked me up by my hair and pulled me over to the stove. He turned it on and had my good arm over the flames, laughing as I was burned.

By the time he turned off the stove, I had a huge third degree burn on my forearm. He pulled me over to the sink and ran the water as hot as it would go over the burn for ten minutes, tripling the pain. Then he pulled me up the stairs and threw me in my room. I landed on the floor with a loud thud. He came after me and punched my burn ten more times before I saw his foot swing at my head and I slipped into unconsciousness.