A/N:

Hi Guys. First, know that I am so sorry for not updating sooner! I tried to, but it just didn't happen… So again, I am wicked sorry!

Secondly, thank you for your reviews and story alerts! They inspire me to keep on writing for you guys! I hope you enjoy the chapter :)

Warning: Rated M for adult language, violence, abusive/ rape topics and more. You've been warned. If any of this offends you, please stop reading.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or the characters. I only own the plot and ideas.

House of Troubled Teens: Chapter 4

BPOV

Previously on House of Troubled Teens

"Bella! Can you stay back for a minute? I want to talk with you." Esme had stood up, and sat down on the couch, then motioned for me to join her.

"Um, sure." I walked over and sat down next to her. Dr. Cullen had also moved out of his chair and was leaning back onto his desk, regarding me thoughtfully.

"Bella, sweetie, something you said earlier alarmed me. You mentioned you cut yourself?" She looked at me for conformation.

"Why?" I asked. I didn't like where this was going, my wall was coming up and I started to glare slightly at her.

"Well. Do you still have those thoughts? Are you still self-harming? And don't lie to me."

The shield was fully up now. "No." Well, that wasn't a complete lie.

"Ok, that's good." Esme stated.

"Do you have any knives on you?" Dr. Cullen asked.

I sighed; I was getting sick of this now, "No. I don't. Can I go now?" I wasn't in the mood for politeness. And if I did have a knife, what are they going to do about it? Nothing, that's what.

"I guess you can. Don't forget! There's an 11 o'clock session tomorrow!" She yelled after me, but I was already out of the door. I started heading down to the cafeteria to meet up with the guys, not that I was hungry after that little episode.

When I got to the cafeteria my eyes scanned the crowd for them. I finally spotted them in the back corner, and started towards them, skipping the line for food. I sat down in the empty seat next to Edward and put my head in my hands, I groaned out loud.

"Bella? What happened in there? What's wrong?" Alice asked me. Everyone stopped eating and turned to look at me, curious of my answer.

I lifted my head from my hands and looked towards Alice, "Esme just wanted to see if I still cut myself an-" my head turned to Jasper, of whom interrupted me.

"Do ya still cut yourself, Bella?" He asked quietly. I heard a few of them hold their breath waiting for my answer.

"No, I don't. And as I was saying, she wanted to see if I had a blade on me. And before anyone interrupts, I don't have one. And that's it." I looked at all of their faces; some seemed concerned for me, though I don't know why. I was just some random stranger that went to therapy with them.

"Oh, ok." Alice said quietly. They all slowly started eating again –save Rosalie-, Emmett finished his food in two bites, then looked down to the empty space where my dinner should be.

"Aren't you hungry, Bells? I mean, you barely ate at lunch. You should eat something" Emmett asked.

I just muttered out quick "No" and looked off to the far wall. I felt Edward tense next to me, so I looked over at him. His eyes were glazed over and he was staring at the wall, I recognized that look. It was the same haunted look he had on while recalling his past in therapy today. I internally winced, knowing how horrible it was to get caught up in bad memories. I placed my hand on his, hoping it would be enough to break him out of his thoughts, but it didn't work.

"Edward?" No response. "Edward?" I put my hand on his shoulder and shook him slightly, still getting no response. By now everyone's eyes were on Edward. I shook him harder, "Edward!"

He quickly turned towards me, a startled look on his features. "What?" he looked round the table, "What are you all staring at?"

Rose took the liberty of answering him, "You just like blanked out, you weren't responding to Bella at all. And you had this… haunted look on your face."

"I just got lost in my thoughts, that's all." I caught his eyes as he looked away, but he just blushed and looked down at his hands instead.

"Why don't we go to our rooms for the night? We have to be coherent for tomorrow." She stood up and one by one we all followed her. She grabbed mine and Rose's hands and walked ahead of the boys. She picked up a slight jog, and looked behind us, "Bye boys! See you tomorrow!" I looked behind us and saw the guys still in the cafe, just staring at us, before slowly walking to their room.

Alice practically threw us into the room before re-grabbing our hands and dragging us to her bed. I noticed that she and Rose had already unpacked, while my luggage just sat on my bed.

"Sooooo, Bella. What happened with Edward this morning! You two were like making out with your eyes!" She was there wasn't she? And we didn't do anything like that! I turned to Rose for help, but she just had an amused smile on her face, she wasn't going to help me.

"Alice, you are completely and totally crazy. I tripped, which is really common for me, and he caught me. End of story. And for that second thing you said, nothing along those lines happened." I crossed my arms and leaned back, waiting to hear the rest of their assumptions and questions.

"No way! You two were in each other's arms for like ever! Something had to have happened."

"Alice, you were there, nothing happened!" I rolled my eyes at her.

"Wait Bella, do you like Edward?" Rose spoke up, that smile still on her face.

"Yeah, he's nice company. Quite, though." I carefully avoided the real question.

"You know what I meant, Bella. Do you like like Edward?"

"Like a crush?" I raised my eyebrows at her.

"Yes like a crush! Like how I have a small crush on Emmett –that information doesn't leave this room- and how Alice has googly eyes for Jasper." Alice smiled, whether at what Rose said, or if she was thinking about Jasper, I don't think I want to know.

"I don't know, Rose! I just met the guy. I mean he's nice and all…" I trailed off.

Alice perked up, "Bella, there was a "but" at the end of that! But what!"

"Not now Alice, I'll tell you later. But for now, I want to unpack." I stood up and headed towards my bed.

"Fine. But I'll find out eventually, Bella Swan, mark my words. Now I am going to go shower." Alice stood up and headed towards the bathroom, grabbing a change of clothes. Rosalie yawned and headed towards her bed.

"I'm tired; I'll see you guys in the morning. Night." She grabbed her pajamas, and started to change.

"Night, Rose." I turned around and started to unpack my clothes, keeping out my toiletries and pajamas. I placed my clothes in the small drawers they had for us, and stuffed the rest of my stuff under my bed. I placed my pillow on the bed, and laid down, waiting for Alice to get out of the shower.

Alice was right; there was a "but" on the end of my sentence. Yeah, I liked Edward, he was really nice. But I was hesitant to let myself develop more than a friendship with him. Whenever I tried to date back home –which was only once- Phil had made sure I knew that it wasn't allowed. The abuse only got worse and I never even thought again about dating, let alone a crush. Even though I knew Phil couldn't get me here, I was still concerned. And who knows if this place has like "visitor" days or some shit, if word gets out… I shuddered at the thought of what he would do.

I heard the bathroom door open, and saw Alice come out. She saw that I was still awake and mouthed that the bathroom was free. I mouthed back a "thank you" and grabbed my stuff. I walked into the brightly lit bathroom and turned on the shower. I let the warm water wash over me and relax my muscles. I cleared my mind, and just enjoyed my shower.

Once I was done, I walked back into our room, and heard both Alice's and Rose's soft snores. I tip toed quietly, not wanting to wake them. I laid down and my hand went to my pillow, I felt the smooth metal through the pillow case. Relief washed over me that I had not lost the item, and I fell asleep, only peaceful thoughts on my mind.

"Bella! Bella! BELLA!" I groaned and put my hands over my eyes, blocking the light. I tried to roll over, but felt my body being pinned down by something. I opened my eyes and saw Alice sitting on my stomach.

I groaned again, "Alice, get off of me!" I glared up at the annoying pixie.

"Not until you get up." She replied.

"Well, I can't get up if you're sitting on me, now can I?" I heard Rose giggle quietly.

"Fine." She huffed and stood up, I quickly followed. I stretched, my body aching from staying in one position all night. I noticed that both of them were already ready for the day, and asked for the time.

"It's 9:20, sleepy head," Rose replied, "We have therapy at 11 and are meeting the guys for breakfast at 9:40, so hurry up."

I grabbed a random outfit for today and my toiletries, and started toward the bathroom. I looked at my reflection in the mirror. Tired brown eyes looked back at me, my brown hair hung loosely around my shoulders, my bangs falling into my eyes. I splashed water on my face and continued getting ready, ignoring the little voice in the back of my head.

The girls and I found the guys at our normal table near the back. We got in line and ordered our food quickly, heading over to the table.

"Mornin' gals. How'd ya'll sleep?" Jasper asked when we sat down.

"Fine." Rose and I replied.

"I slept perfectly. And you Jasper?" Alice was obviously trying to strike up a conversation.

"I slept great, darlin'." He winked at Alice and she just stared at him dreamily.

"What? None of you care how I slept?" Emmett fake pouted, looking very much like a little kid denied from getting a toy.

Rose giggled at his antics, "How did you sleep, Emmett?"

"I slept great, thanks for asking." He smiled down at her, and they struck up a conversation. I noted that Jasper and Alice had also started their own conversation. Which left Edward and I just awkwardly sitting here.

"Well, how was your night Edward?" I asked, trying to catch a peak at his vivid green eyes.

"Fine." He replied shortly, but he kept his eyes on mine. We looked into each other's eyes for what seemed like forever. I felt like he could see into my soul, and like I could see his too. I never wanted to look away, I felt… safe for the first time in a while.

"Guys?" Edward and I broke our eye contact and turned towards Emmett. "It's 10:50 we should get going…"

"Yeah, sure." I stood up and looked up at my tray. I had only eaten half of my food, same with Edward. Everyone else seemed to have finished their breakfast –aside from Rose of course- oh well, I wasn't that hungry.

We threw away our food and went towards Dr. Cullen's office. When we got there the door was open and Dr. Cullen and his wife were waiting for us. After a quick greeting from each side, we all sat in the same seats as yesterday. Dr. Cullen stood up and leaned on his desk, he regarded us thoughtfully.

"Good Morning. I hope you all had a goodnight's rest. Now today to start why don't we all say where we grew up? Just so that we can get to know each other better." He looked at all of us, motioning one of us to start.

Mrs. Cullen spoke up, when none of us would, "Alice? Why don't you start, sweetie?"

Alice looked up at her, "Sure. I was born in Biloxi, Mississippi. I grew up there too."

Emmett spoke up next, "I was born and raised in Gatlinburg, Tennessee."

I looked over at Dr. Cullen and noticed that he was writing all of this down, just like he did yesterday.

"Ah'm from Austin, Texas." Jasper let his southern accent show a little bit more than usual, maybe to prove that he's from Texas. But I really don't know.

"I'm from Rochester, New York." Rose stated.

I spoke up next. "I was born in Forks, Washington. I grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, but moved back to Forks six years ago."

Edward has yet to speak, and for a minute I thought he wasn't going to say anything. But eventually he sighed and spoke up, "I was born in Chicago, Illinois."

"Good, good. Thank you all for that information. Now why don't we each say what started the problem that you're here for. Not all of it, but just the beginning." Dr. Cullen motioned for Alice to start again.

"Well, I've always liked shopping, so when my family went bankrupt I wasn't able to buy anything. A few wrong decisions later, I decided to shoplift; I only did it a handle full of times. But one time my mother caught me –and as I said before, she doesn't like me at all- so she decided that I was mentally ill. It was just bad decisions and the bad economy, that's all." Alice finished her confession with a small satisfied nod. She looked toward Dr. Cullen for his approval.

"Very good, Alice, thank you. To make this easier, why don't we all go in the same order as before?"

"Alrighty then," Emmett started, "my father wasn't the nicest of people, and he always pressured me to do better. I did football and wrestling in high school, and before the next season started I worked out a ton to get in shape. Everyday my father pressured me more and more to do better, and once I was with one of my friends. After we were done he came up to me and told me that he used steroids and it was easier, that I might want to try it too. So the next day I got them, and I started using them for a while. Until about two months later when my father found them in my gym bag. I was willing to give them up, so I did, but he didn't believe me. So here I am."

"Thank you, Emmett. Next… Jasper?" he was still trying to write down everything that was said.

"Well, Ah grew up in a harsh neighborhood, and my parents really didn't care about me. Ah have four older brothers and they always fought me and told me that Ah was a waste, and that no one cared about me. They rallied up all of their friends, and daily beat me, they gotta sick sense of joy out of it. When Ah told my parents 'bout it they just said it was "brotherly fun". For years this went on and after a while Ah snapped, and Ah fought back. That didn't end well, and my brothers keep on sayin' that Ah was a waste and whatnot. They kept on sayin' that Ah should just kill myself, and that everyone would be better off. After all of those years Ah had started to believe them, and last year Ah tried to end it out of depression." Jasper finished and looked down at his lap. I felt so bad for him, and he looked on the verge of tears. Emmett put his hand on Jasper's shoulder as a sign of comfort.

"I'm sorry to hear about that Jasper. But thank you for sharing. Rosalie?" Dr. Cullen looked upset as well, hearing about what happened to Jasper.

"Um, I dated a guy named Royce King, and he was really judgmental. He was never physically abusive, but he always told me that I ate too much and was overweight. He drove me to become anorexic, and it was something that I could never and still haven't been able to stop. And uh, one night I went out to visit my friend, Vera, and it was late at night. I know I should have called a cab, but I figured I would be fine walking home by myself. But as I was walking I heard some drunk guys laughing, I realized it was Royce and his friends. I couldn't get away in time." Rose looked down at her lap, and Alice pulled her into a hug. All of the guys were shocked, I guess they finally put two and two together and figured out what happened. It took the genius's long enough.

Mrs. Cullen spoke up instead of her husband. "I'm very sorry Rosalie. Bella, you're next honey." I wish she would stop calling me "sweetie" and "honey" it was getting annoying. I know she was just trying to be nice, but still…

"Well my stepfather, Phil, abused me for as long as I could remember. He abused me for the littlest and stupidest things. And one night when I was 13, he lost it and raped me. He's been abusing me and raping me ever since. My mother never found out, and since I feared my life, I never told her. The physical and emotional pain became too much, and to find release I started cutting myself. It became an escape to me, a way to escape Phil and the torture he put me through. My mother found out about three months ago about me cutting myself, and she tried to get me to stop. I tried to stop, but I couldn't. So now I'm here." I sighed, "And before you ask, no I don't cut myself anymore." I looked up at Dr. Cullen and Mrs. Cullen, wanting to know what they were going to say.

"I'm sorry that you had to go through that Bella. And if you ever feel like you want to hurt yourself, please come to us." I glared at the doctor, but he only motioned for Edward to start speaking.

"It was in December and it was snowing. The roads were slippery, but my father was driving carefully. We were heading to a movie, and everything seemed normal. But a car had swerved into our lane, and my dad couldn't move fast enough. We collided and our car swerved off the road and into the woods. My parents died slowly, and aside from a few broken bones, I was fine. It took hours for the paramedics to get to us. My parents had earlier decided that if anything were to happen to them, I was to live with my aunt. My aunt realized that I wasn't mentally or emotionally getting over my parents' deaths, so she decided that therapy would benefit me." Edward ran his hand through his hair and looked down; he looked so upset.

"I am sorry that happened, Edward. Thank you for sharing." Dr. Cullen looked around at us, most of us had a haunted or upset look on our faces, from both our own memories and each other's. I looked towards the clock and noticed that it was already 3 o'clock. "I think that will be all for today."

We started to get up, but Mrs. Cullen's voice called out to us. "Wait! We have homework for you guys. I'm going to put you into partners and you are going to share with your partners what emotions you felt during these events." She looked around the room, deciding partners. "Alright, Emmett and Alice, Jasper and Bella, Edward and Rosalie, there are your partners. Make sure you do your home work, and our session will begin tomorrow at 11 o'clock. Have a nice afternoon, guys."

With one final smile, we all walked out the door. The partners started to go their separate ways, and I turned to Jasper.

"So where do you want to do this?"

A/N:

What did you guys think? What do you think is in Bella's pillow case? And what is that little voice in Bella's head saying? Any thoughts, comments, questions, tell me in the reviews!

And yes! I have a small cliffhanger, not that bad though :) If you have any thoughts to where they're going to go (it's not in either of their rooms) tell me in your review!

In the next chapter, I'm going to change POV's during the chapter. But therapy is going to be back in Bella's POV.

I hope that you enjoyed the chapter. And thanks to all of you for reading and reviewing. Please review and tell me what you think. I'll try to get the next chapter up sooner.

Oh! And by the way, the Cullen Institution for Mental Health is in Seattle, WA. Just thought I'd say that, because I never mentioned it in the story.

Reviews make me write faster!

-Mady :)