A/N Twilight and Characters all belong to Catherine Hardwickeand Paramount Picture. Any original characters and this story are copyright © 2011-2023 to Hopelessromanticgurl, all rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.
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"Jasper!" Carlisle muttered. "Can you calm her? I don't want her to run."
Bella slowly calmed down but stayed away from everyone.
"Bella, Listen to me, Sweetie. I promise I will not touch you anywhere anymore. I just need to ask you a few questions."
Bella shook her head as she continued to cry. "No."
"Honey, what's wrong? Why are you so scared?" Esme asked.
"Questions lead to touching, touching leads to pain, pain leads to more pain. More pain leads to…" She shook her head.
"Sweetie, I promise I will not put my hands anywhere on you. I'll keep them behind my back the entire time. I'll even have Rosalie hold them there if it makes you feel more comfortable."
Bella shook her head. "No means no. Stop means stop. No means no, stop means stop." She recited.
Carlisle sighed. The last time he had heard someone talk like that was when he saved Rosalie after…He gasped and looked to Rosalie. She just nodded.
"Bella, Sweetie, where do you think I'm going to touch you?" Carlisle asked.
"No, no touching, no touching. No means no and stop means stop!"
"Bella…" Esme said softly. "You're right. No means no and stop means stop. You have every right to say stop, and you have every right to say no, Whoever you speak it to needs to listen to your words and stop whatever they are doing."
"They didn't!" Bella cried. She dropped to her knees and cried again. "They didn't! I begged and cried. I said No I said stop they didn't listen!"
"What were they doing?" Carlisle asked.
Bella shook her head as she cried. "No."
Esme went over to Bella and knelt down in front of her. "It's ok. You're safe. I'm right here."
Esme pulled her into her arms and hugged her close. She rubbed her back.
Bella slowly started to calm down until she fell asleep in Esme's arms.
"Rosalie…" Carlisle said.
"Yes." Rosalie nodded. "I'm almost 100% positive it's the same thing. Her actions speak louder than anything else."
Carlisle sighed. "If you're right she's going to need more than just a small check-up."
"Call Lexi," Esme said.
"She was wonderful with both of you when you were hurt," Carlisle said.
"She'll be just as wonderful with Bella." Rosalie nodded.
"I'll give her a call." Carlisle sighed.
"This isn't your fault," Esme said softly. "You had no idea Bella would react this way."
"I know," Carlisle said and walked out of the room.
"He doesn't believe me." Esme sighed.
"He will. He's just upset right now." Rosalie said. "We all are."
Bella woke up a few hours later. She stirred softly and opened her eyes. She saw Rosalie and Esme sitting at the foot of her bed. They were in a guest room. She carefully sat up flinching in pain.
"How are you feeling?" Esme asked.
Bella shrugged. She was still in pain, but she couldn't handle having Carlisle look at her.
"Sweetie, how would you feel about seeing a female doctor?" Esme asked.
Bella bit her bottom lip. She shrugged.
"She's very nice. After I went through it with my ex, she was very helpful to me."
"I didn't trust anyone after my attack," Rosalie said. "This lady helped me learn to trust again."
"She's a friend of Carlisle's. They've been friends for a very long time. She's um…well…she's like us." Esme said. "Not human."
"Yep. She's an alien." Rosalie said.
"Rosa…" Esme was cut off when Bella started to giggle. It was the first time they had heard her really laugh since they returned from their hunt. It made Esme smile.
"You know I'm just kidding." Rosalie smiled gently. "She is like us though."
"Or we can have Carlisle call one of the ladies from the Hospital. It's your choice." Rosalie said. "You don't have to have any doctors if you don't want one. But they will help stop the pain."
Bella nodded.
"What would you like, Bella? It's your choice." Rosalie said. She held up one finger again. "We can not call anyone, and we can leave you alone until you're ready for a doctor." Rosalie held up another finger. "Carlisle can call a female human doctor from the Hospital, and she can come to look at you." She held up one more finger. "We can call Carlisle's friend, and she can come to visit and spend some time with you."
Bella looked at her fingers and then pointed to her third finger.
"Ok. I'll go have Carlisle call her." Esme said. She stood up and left the room.
"Her name is Lexi," Rosalie explained. "She's really nice. She's soft and gentle, and she won't do anything to you unless she asks for your permission first. If you tell her no she respects it. She wouldn't even shake my hand without first asking me. Same with Esme."
Bella nodded. She liked the sound of this girl. Bella looked down to her lap and played fiddled with her fingers. "You stay?" she whispered. No human would have heard her.
"Of course. As long as you want me to."
"Esme too?"
"Of course, I'm sure she'd stay as long as you wanted."
Bella nodded. She inhaled and exhaled a deep breath. She flinched and wrapped her arms around her ribs whimpering softly.
"Will you please tell me who did this to you?" Rosalie sighed. "We all know it wasn't the kids at school."
Bella stayed silent and kept her head down.
Rosalie sighed but nodded. "Ok. When you're ready."
Esme came back upstairs a few minutes later. "It's all set. Lexi should be here by nightfall."
"Doesn't she live far away?" Rosalie asked. "I mean I know vampires are fast but…"
"Alice had a vision and called her already. She's been on her way here for a few days."
Rosalie nodded and looked to Bella. She hadn't moved.
"It's going to be ok, Bella. Esme and I will be by your side the entire time."
Bella just nodded. She wasn't sure she still wanted to do this.
Nightfall came, and everyone was downstairs waiting for their visitor. There was a knock at the door, and Bella jumped.
"It's ok. You're safe." Rosalie said.
Everyone stood and went to the door. Carlisle opened it, and a young woman walked in.
"Lexi, good to see you again," Carlisle said.
"You as well Carlisle," Lexi answered.
They shared a hug.
"Esme, Rosalie, you're both looking well," Lexi said. She hugged Esme and shook Rosalie's hand.
"We've been doing wonderfully since we last saw each other," Esme said.
"That's great," Lexi said. "Now I'm assuming the reason I'm here is tucked under your arm trying to hide." She looked at Bella.
Bella whimpered and hid behind Esme.
"Yes. She's been through what Rosalie and I have. She doesn't trust humans right now, but she also doesn't trust men, so she hasn't let Carlisle look at her."
"Is she human?" Lexi asked.
"Yes."
Lexi said. "That's what I thought. It's very rare that a human would trust vampires or other humans but whatever makes her comfortable is what we need to make sure she gets." Lexi looked over and Bella and knelt down a bit, so she was eye level. "Bella, can I ask you a few questions, do you mind?"
Bella shook her head. "No." she whimpered.
"She does speak. Alice told me…"
"It's on and off," Esme explained.
"But there is nothing physically wrong that is preventing her from speaking?"
"No. None that we know of."
"Ok. That's good." Lexi looked to Bella again. "Do you feel better not speaking?"
Bella nodded.
"Ok. Then you don't have to."
Bella nodded once more and stood next to Esme instead of hiding behind her. "Bella, I'm Lexi. I'm a good friend of the Cullen's. I've helped Esme and Rosalie through this, and I would like to try and help you as well. But I want you to tell me how to do that."
Bella didn't speak.
"Here is what we can do." Lexi started. She handed Bella a notepad and Pen. "I'm going to ask you three simple questions. I want you to write your answers on the pad, ok?"
Bella nodded.
"Questions 1, do you want me to examine you or just be here as a friend of the family? Questions 2, if you decide to say to the first question do you want the Cullen's to stay with you, if yes list who. Questions 3, is there a place in this house where you feel most comfortable to do it if you said yes to question one."
Bella wrote down on the pad and then handed it back to Lexi. "You are ok with doing an exam right now. That's good. You want Esme and Rosalie to stay with you that's fine too. You want to do the exam in Edward's room."
Bella nodded.
"Ok. We can make that happen. The rest of you out of the house. Bella deserves her Privacy."
All the Cullen's nodded and left the house.
"Can you lead the way to Edward's room," Lexi asked Esme.
"Of course."
The four of them went upstairs and into Edward's room.
"Oh…no bed…" Lexi said.
"Bella likes the couch," Rosalie said.
"Ok, we will make it work. Bella, why don't you have a seat."
Bella looked at Rosalie and Esme. They both nodded at her. Inhaling and exhaling a deep breath Bella nodded and took a seat on the couch.
About an hour and a half later the Cullen's returned home, and the house was silent.
"Is that a good thing or bad thing?" Edward asked.
"I'm not sure. Alice, I thought you said they would be done by now?" Carlisle said.
"I did. They are. I'm not sure why they are so quiet." Alice sighed.
"Edward, can you hear their thoughts?" Carlisle asked.
"No, they are blocking me out. They know we're home." Edward shook his head.
Just then Lexi came down the stairs. "We're here. We're done."
"How did Bella do?" Carlisle asked.
"The depends are you asking as her doctor or her father?" Lexi smiled.
"Both."
"As her doctor she did fine. I wrapped her ribs and made sure everything else was healing, and it is. I gave Esme some pain medicine in case she wants it. After that, it was time for the…other exam."
"And?"
"No signs of pregnancy or STDs. That's always good. There is some damage done, but it will heal with time. I did the best I could, Bella was very anxious, and I didn't want to cause a panic attack. I offered to give her medicine to help her relax, and she denied it. But there is nothing seriously wrong with her. Everything will heal with time, but you already know that."
Carlisle nodded. "And as her father?"
Lexi sighed. "I'm really worried about her mental health. I think she has forgotten that she does have a choice and she is allowed to say no. I would ask her if she was ok with something and she would say yes and then I would go to do it and she'd panic and say she lied and she meant no. That would set her off into another panic because she lied and she assumed she'd be punished."
"She's been like that for a while now, I think even before her attack." Carlisle sighed.
"She teased me once, and when I teased her back telling her she was going to be punished she freaked out," Emmett said. "Got on her hands and knees begging me not to. She wasn't teasing back either. She was crying hysterically. I didn't understand why. Bella and I always tease each other. I usually punish her by tickling her or something like that. I'd never actually hurt her."
"I'm not sure if any of you were suspicious, but Bella is showing a lot of signs that lead to me believe there was physical abuse going on even before this attack." Lexi sighed.
"No, Bella never showed any signs to us," Carlisle said.
"But then again we weren't here. It could have started after we left." Rosalie said as she and Esme came down the stairs.
"Esme, Rosalie, how is Bella?" Edward asked.
"She's ok. She's strong and brave." Esme said. "She asked for a few minutes alone."
Edward sighed. "I want to see her."
"I know. But we have to respect her wishes. We have to show her that she does have a choice and if she says no to someone or something we have to respect that too." Lexi said
Edward sighed. "Why doesn't she trust me?"
"She doesn't trust any of us," Alice said.
"Someone hurt her," Lexi said. "I don't know who, she shut down the second I asked. But if I had to guess I would assume it was someone she knew and someone she trusted. That, someone, broke that trust, and now Bella is scared of trusting anyway."
"But we would never…"
"I know that. But it's going to take Bella time to realize that."
Everyone just sighed and nodded.
"Now I have a question," Lexi said. "I asked Bella about her father, and she shut down again. It was only when I got her talking about you all, or more importantly, Edward did she actually relax. Has her father been contacted?"
"No," Carlisle said. "If he hasn't noticed Bella missing by now then he must not care enough to find her. Bella is over 18, and she hasn't requested that I call him. Until she does, I will not call him."
"Is he the one who…"
"We don't know," Esme said. "Charlie never seemed like the kind of guy to physically hurt his daughter."
"You're doing the right thing. Respect her wishes. If she asks to see her father, call him right away. If she doesn't, you're under no legal obligation to call him." Lexi said.
Carlisle nodded. "Thank you, Lexi."
"Anytime."
After a few goodbyes, Lexi left.
After that things seemed to go by quickly. Bella seemed to be doing better and healing physically again. She was comfortable as long as Esme and Rosalie were by her side. But the only time she allowed them to touch her was if they asked, and then asked again. They had learned that they had to ask Bella something twice. Her first answer could be a lie but the second answer was always the truth.
One afternoon The Cullen's were in the living room talking.
"None of us have gone for a hunt since we found Bella, living here," Carlisle said. "It's time we go out again."
"We can't leave Bella alone," Rosalie said. "She'll have a panic attack."
"I'm not saying we leave her alone. But…Esme, you need to hunt, Love." Carlisle said.
Esme looked down to the floor. "I can't leave her alone."
"She won't be alone. I'll stay." Rosalie said. "Emmett and I just went for a hunt a few days ago."
"I just went yesterday," Edward said. "Rosalie and I can stay."
"I'll be close enough in case Bella needs me. But it might be good to help her bond with Edward again." Rosalie said.
Esme sighed.
"I promise we leave in the morning and be home by tomorrow night," Carlisle said. "You've got to hunt. You'll never forgive yourself if you hurt Bella."
"And she won't forgive you either," Emmett said.
Esme looked up at him with a frown.
"It was just a joke."
"Not a funny one," Carlisle said. He rubbed his wife's back. "Come on, Love."
"Carlisle is right, Esme. I promise I'll text you if Bella sneezes." Rosalie said.
Esme giggled softly. "OK, you're right. Bella trusts you. She'll be happy with you. Ok, let's do this."
"That's my girl." Carlisle kissed her cheeks and then they all started to plan their next hunt.
About an hour later Bella came downstairs and joined everyone in the living room.
"Hey, there is our favorite human." Emmett teased.
Bella smiled softly but then quickly went over to Rosalie and Esme.
"Bella, Honey, we need to talk to you for a minute," Esme said.
Bella looked to Esme. Esme took one look at Bella's innocent face and sighed. She couldn't do this.
"Bella, Esme, Alice, Jasper, and I all need to hunt," Carlisle said.
A look of fear crossed Bella's face.
"Rosalie and Edward will stay here with you." Carlisle continued. "Emmett would come with us just to give you your space."
Bella looked at Edward. He looked at her smiled and winked at her. His wink always made her feel weak at the knees and feeling like a million butterflies were fluttering around inside her stomach. She smiled and blushed quickly looking away.
Secretly she had missed Edward, she loved Esme and Rosalie, but she really missed Edward. Maybe it was time she started trying to bond with him again. She turned to Esme and frowned. Esme hadn't left since she found Bella in the closet. Bella wasn't sure she wanted Esme to leave her.
She looked back to Edward who smiled and winked again. This time she giggled shyly, blushing and quickly looking away.
"Come back?" Bella asked.
"Of course. We will leave first thing in the morning and be back by dinner time." Carlisle said. "We aren't going far this time."
Bella nodded.
"Are you ok with this?"
Bella nodded.
"Are you really ok with this?" Esme asked.
Bella bit her bottom lip nervously and shook her head.
"She's nervous," Jasper said. "But she is going to try. She knows how important it is for us all to hunt."
Bella nodded.
"Ok. Then it's a plan."
Bella looked to Edward once more. He gave her one more wink, and she smiled. She nodded. Suddenly she wasn't scared anymore.
The next morning Bella woke up, showered, got dressed and went downstairs for breakfast.
After eating she was sitting with Rosalie when she heard Edward start playing the piano. Bella looked at the sound and then to Rosalie.
"You can go sit with him," Rosalie said. "I'll stay close by in case you need me."
Bella nodded. She got up and followed the sound until she reached the right room. She stood by the doorway just listening to the music.
"You can come in if you want to," Edward said after he finished his song.
Bella slowly walked inside the room. She sat down on the bench next to Edward.
"Hey, Beautiful." He smiled.
She blushed and quickly looked away. She wasn't beautiful anymore.
"You will always be beautiful to me. So no more blushing or hiding," he said.
She looked back at him, and he winked. She blushed and giggled shyly.
He winked again and got the same reaction. Suddenly he started to blink really fast, and Bella laughed at how silly he looked. She brought her hands up to cover his eyes.
He just chuckled and gently poked her side. She squealed and pulled her arm down.
He chuckled once more. "Always so ticklish." he teased.
Bella giggled and raised her arm back up to cover his eyes again.
Edward wasn't sure if he should tickle her again or not. So he waited….
"Again," Bella said.
"Are you sure?" Edward asked.
"Again!" Bella said in a more bossy type tone.
Edward smiled and gently reached out and poked her sides. Bella squealed with giggles and pulled her arm down.
Bella pointed to the piano. "Again."
"As you wish." He answered with a smile. He started to play again. This time he played her song. She smiled and looked at his face and then slowly and carefully laid her head on his shoulder.
After the song was over Bella looked up at Edward. "Miss you."
"I've missed you too," Edward told her.
"Mad?" Bella asked.
"No. Not at you. Just at the people who did this to you, whoever made you so terrified that you don't even trust us anymore, that's who I'm mad at. I'm not nor will I ever be mad at you."
Bella nodded. "Love you."
"I love you too. May I kiss you on your forehead?"
Bella nodded.
"Are you sure?" Edward asked.
"Yes, please." She nodded once more.
Edward carefully and gently leaned in and kissed her forehead. She smiled. She had missed his kisses.
"How about we go watch a movie in the living room?"
"Rosie?"
"Yeah, she can come too." Edward nodded.
"Stay," Bella said again.
"Always, Love."
He gave her one more kiss on her forehead and then together they went into the living room where Rosalie was already setting up a movie.
Bella was sitting on the couch with Edward and Rosalie on each side.
Just then there was a knock at the door. Bella jumped.
"It's ok. You're safe." Edward said.
"I'll go," Rosalie said. She stood up and went over to the door.
A/N Who is at the door? What do you think? Leave me your thoughts in a review. Those who review with an account will get a sneak peek at the next chapter so please review!
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