So I am very excited about this chapter. It was fun to write, and it makes me extremely excited for the upcoming chapters. I will warn you now this chapter has some sensitive topics in it, and I don't want anyone to be offended when reading it. I didn't use much detail, so that should help. Anyway I hope you enjoy it, and please review. I have been getting some reviews, but not a lot. I get more stories alerts and things like that. Like I have said before the reviews really inspire me to write, and without them I feel like the story might not be good enough to keep writing. I also love getting ideas from people so please read and review so that I know what you think.

BPOV

Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, I still couldn't shake the images of Alice's horrifying past out of my mind. I couldn't imagine ever going through what she did and still being that optimistic about life. I would be angry and distraught and ultimately have no trust in people at all. Knowing the creep who tortured, raped, and very nearly killed her was out of jail was traumatizing for both me and her. What made the situation worse was the fact that he recognized her after all these years, and now knew she lived in LA. I still remember her story as vividly as the day she told me.

"Oh my God Bella," she practically whispered. There was clear panic in her voice, "I just remembered where I know him from."

I couldn't help but notice the bone chilling fear in her eyes.

"Who is he? What did he do?," I questioned her becoming as scared as she was. I knew from the look in her eyes that the guy was bad news, and probably should not be in our apartment.

Before she could start James walked into the room. Smirking at Alice he said, "Were finished, and we will see our way out. I hope to see you soon." He then winked and left. I quickly jumped up and locked the door after he exited.

"Okay Alice," I said worried, "What did he do to you, because its obvious your afraid of him."

"Oh Bella, I don't even know where to begin," she replied tearing up.

"Just start from the beginning," I stated moving closer to her and grabbing her hand. I knew this was going to be hard for her, but if he was dangerous I needed to know why.

"Well 6 years ago when I was 16, I was a cheerleader for my high school. I was at one of the games, the only one my family couldn't make it to. Edward had a piano recital that day, and I insisted they accompany him to his recital rather than stay and watch the football game. I knew there would be other games they could come to, and Edward didn't get to play for people often. During the game I noticed a guy maybe four years older than me watching me cheer. He wouldn't take his eyes off of me, and I was steadily growing uncomfortable. I tried to brush it off as nothing, because I didn't want to worry anyone. After the game I called my parents, and they told me they were on the way. I quickly changed out of my uniform and left the locker room. Unfortunately, most of the girls parents were already there, and I ended up waiting alone for my parents to show up. Out of nowhere the guy I noticed watching me during the game walked up. He told me I was pretty, and he enjoyed watching me cheer. I tried to walk away without seeming rude, but he wouldn't have it. He threw me on the ground knocking me out. I woke up in a dark, musty room tied to an old bed the next day. I was naked and sore in a way I had never experienced. There was blood everywhere, and I instantly knew he raped me. I cried out trying to free myself, and hopefully alert someone that I was being held against my will. When he noticed I was awake he came into the room and started to laugh. He told me no one was going to hear me, and proceeded to raped me again. This time while I was awake. He hurt me in every way possible. It felt like he thrived off of my affliction and made my pain his sadistic version of a game. Eventually, I was so beaten I couldn't move. I knew he was about to kill me, and if he didn't the pain would. I was ready to die and begged him to just do it. He hit me hard, and I passed out waking up in a hospital 4 days later. Edward found me right before James was going to kill me. He beat James until he couldn't move, and left him for the police to deal with. Apparently, they didn't deal with him the way they should have. At the hospital I was diagnosed with every rib broken, head trauma from being thrown down, many bruises and cuts, and a broken arm. I fortunately had not contracted any STDS from him, and I also did not end up pregnant. They told my parents the emotional state I was in was almost irreversible, and I would need therapy immediately. I wouldn't even speak to them for 2 weeks after it happened. After a month I was released, and I was put into therapy until I graduated. I quit cheerleading and stopped going out. My life was over, and I knew it. My family was miserable and hurting for me in ways they shouldn't have had to. Edward thought it was his fault, because he was the reason my parents weren't at the game. He wanted to help me so much and started playing the piano for me every night. It was the only way I was able to fall asleep without having horrible dreams. There were days I just wanted to die and wished James would have killed me when he had the chance. It took me a while to get over the trauma of what happened and realize I was lucky to be alive. From that point on I swore I wouldn't let what happened to me rule my life, and I moved on the best I could. That is probably the biggest reason I moved to LA. I couldn't live in the place I had suffered so much any longer," she told me with tears pouring down her face. It took me a minute to realize I had been crying right along with her. I quickly jumped up and called Edward after she finished telling me what happened. I knew this was something him and his father needed to know about immediately. He rushed home with his dad by his side, and they both promised Alice nothing would happen again. They were going to take a restraining order out on him and find out exactly why he was no longer in prison. With any luck they might just be able to get him back in.

The days following the encounter with James were hectic for all of us. Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper were filled in on the situation, and we were all taking extra precautions to remain safe. We found out James was released from prison about 6 months ago on good behavior. They didn't know why he decided to move to LA, which wasn't a good sign in any of our opinions. We did however get the restraining order put on him, and we hoped that was enough to keep him away. If I was honest with myself, I didn't think it would be. Fortunately, Alice did not go into a state of shock. She handled the situation very well considering. She was still perky and exciting, but I did notice she seemed to be staying with Jasper a lot more. With the apartment mostly empty Rosalie had taken to staying with Emmett more often as well. They seemed to be doing as well as ever, which made me happy. We heard nothing more from James since he moved my furniture in, and I was happy with that. Edward became extremely overprotective and moved his schedule around so that when I started work we would leave at the same time, and we would arrive home at the same time. He made sure we were together when we walked Belle, and he didn't want me to go out too much alone. I honestly didn't mind all the extra attention I was getting from him. I knew he was only doing it for my safety, which was a little disappointing. I did my best not to see it that way, however, and tried to the enjoy the extra time we were spending together. He hated the fact that this guy knew where we lived, and I had to do a lot of begging to keep him from picking up and moving right when he found out. We decided that moving was much too drastic of a decision to make right now.

"Bella are you ready?," I heard Edward call from the kitchen. Today I was starting my first day of work, and after all of the mess from the week I was extremely excited to be doing something fun.

"Yes!," I called back. Putting the final touches on my make up, "I'll be there in a second."

I stood back and looked at myself in the mirror. I knew I looked better than I have in days. Lounging around the apartment didn't call for cute outfits, so I have been wearing shorts and t-shirts all week. I decided on a black skirt and a red blouse to wear for my first day of work. (picture in profile) I was also wearing a pair of pointy toe heels, luckily, with a short heel. They were surprisingly comfortable, and I hoped I wouldn't fall too much throughout the day. That probably wouldn't make a good first impression. I clipped some of my hair back with a black and red hair band, and let my loose curls hang freely down my back. I also put on just a little bit of make up and black heart earrings. I turned and looked at Belle who was watching me from the bed.

"What do you think?," I asked walked over to her and stroking her fur. She licked me and wagged her tail excitedly, which I took as a good sign. After a week we finally got all of the blue paint off of her. Alice insisted we take her to a groomer, and they were able to get the color out of her fur easily. They also made it extremely fluffy and smell good. Belle seemed to like being groomed, and I knew it would probably become a regular thing.

I grabbed my blazer and walked out of the room feeling confident. I looked over at Edward and noticed he was gazing at me in a state of slight shock. I felt the heat creep to my face causing me to blush.

"Wow Bella, you look fantastic," he muttered appraisingly.

"Thank you," I answered blushing even more.

"I made some breakfast," he said nodding towards the table, "I thought the best way to start your day would be on a full stomach."

"And you were right, I'm starving. Thank you for cooking," I replied walking towards the table. Unfortunately, I tripped midway and waited for the impact of the fall. It never came though, because two strong arms wrapped around me before I hit the ground.

"Your going to break your neck before you even get to work," he said laughing and standing me straight up. It took a minute for him to take his arms from around me, and I was a little disappointed when he finally did.

"Well you can blame your sister and Rosalie for putting me in these death traps," I replied starting on my plate, "but thank you for catching me. It seems saving me is becoming a regular thing for you."

"Your welcome, and as long as I'm here I will save you when you need it," He replied with a smile, "Are you worried about your first day?," he then asked watching me intently.

"Not at all. I love photography, and any job I can get that am allowed to express that love through is going to be fun," I told him smiling back.

"Wow, I would love to see some of your work. You are so passionate about it, but I have never even seen any of it," he responded

"Well I guess if your lucky ill have to show you some of my stuff. Of course you would have to agree to play the piano for me. From what I hear your quite the Beethoven," I said smirking.

"I don't know about Beethoven, but I guess I am okay at it. I have played since I was young so now it just comes naturally to me. I think me playing the piano was one of the only things that kept Alice sane until she graduated," he replied in almost a sad way.

"She told me that your music was the only thing that kept her from having nightmares," I agreed comfortingly, "You know it wasn't your fault that happened to her. There was no way you or your parents could have known that was going to happen to Alice. It was really brave of you to find her and try so hard to help her get through it."

"I know. I just keep thinking if I didn't play the piano, she wouldn't have had to experience that," he answered drawing his eyes down to his food. Now I knew why he had yet to play while I was here.

"If you didn't play the piano, Alice wouldn't have got through it the way she did. She is happy now, and she isn't letting it effect her life. I think she would want you to do the same," I replied. I knew she would hate it if she knew it still affected him this way.

"Yeah, I guess your right. It's just finding out he is out of jail has kind of brought all of those bad feelings back," he answered now looking at me intently.

"Well, we are all going to get through this. I'm not worried, and I don't think you should be either," I said grabbing his hand. I don't know where all of the confidence came from, but I felt it was the right thing to do. His face lit up, and I immediately knew I was right. If all I could ever be to Edward was a good friend, I think I could be okay with that. I pulled my hand away and stood up.

"We probably should get going if we want to both make it to work on time," I said grabbing both of our plates. I put them in the sink and walked back to the table. Edward seemed to be pondering something, but didn't say anything.

"Your right. Thank you for making me feel better. Nobody has ever made me see things that clearly before. I am glad to know you care about my family that much," he said appreciatively.

"You guys are all I have in LA. Of course I care that much," I responded grabbing my purse. He smiled and following me out the door.

EPOV

Never in my life have I found someone that makes me feel as good as Bella does. I would be lying if I said I wasn't on the verge of a mild breakdown after finding out about James. I knew I had been overprotective all week, but I couldn't risk something like that happening to anybody else I care about. Especially, someone I felt so strongly about like Bella. I knew it wouldn't be long before I admitted my feelings for her. I couldn't hold it in anymore. After the confidence she showed today, and the genuine affliction she felt for our situation I knew she was the perfect woman for me. It had only been almost 2 weeks, but you cant deny feelings like that. I would hold it in a little while longer. I didn't want to scare her away, and I wanted to find the perfect way to tell her.

"Edward, are you okay?," I heard Bella ask. I looked over at her and could see the concern on her face.

"I'm fine Bella. I was just thinking of how lucky we are to have you in our life," I replied honestly.

"I think I'm the lucky one. If it weren't for you I would still be looking for a roommate. Knowing me I probably would have ended up living with James," she answered with an easy smile. I could see the blush starting to fade. I was growing to love the color that hit her cheeks when she was embarrassed.

"I don't even want to think about you moving in with James," I retorted shuddering.

"Neither do I. Well I guess this is where we part," she said looking out the window at the large building that said Chic Magazine on it.

"I guess your right," I replied pulling to a stop right at the front door. I hopped out of the car and opened the door for her, " I hope you have a wonderful first day of work."

"Thank you. You have a good day to," she answered giving me a swift kiss on the cheek. I think I actually blushed when she did that. I saw the smile creep across her face as she walked away from me.

Man she was making it impossible to hide my feelings, and it looks to me as if its just going to get harder. I got back in my car and made my way to work with the imprint of Bella's kiss still burning my cheek.

BPOV

I don't know where all this extra confidence was coming from, but kissing Edward on the cheek was something I would not normally do. I couldn't help, but smile a little at the look he had on his face when I started to walk awake. I could of swore I saw a blush. I was quickly pulled out of my thoughts when I walked into the building. It was massive and beautiful. It had marble floors and windows galore. There was also a beautiful spiral staircase leading up to the higher floors. I, of course, would be taking the elevator, because stairs were usually a hazard to my health. I walked into the elevator and went to the 7th floor. I noticed a few of the guys in the office staring at me curiously. I made sure to keep my head straight as I walked to where I was going. I didn't want to make people think I was weak or couldn't handle myself.

"Bella!," I heard Rosalie call from behind me. At this most of the guys in the room turned to look at me. I turned around and saw her hurrying towards me.

"I'm so excited you're here," she chirped, "I'll take you to where you will be working."

"Okay," I replied just as excited. I followed her to a big room. I saw a nice office set up to one side with a large computer. That would be where I edited the pictures for the magazine after they were scanned through. I looked around and saw where the set was for me to take my pictures. It had different lighting, backgrounds, props, etc. I had everything I could possibly need to take pictures. I followed Rose to a room next to the set. I saw Alice sitting in there looking through clothing samples.

"Hey Bella! I'm so excited you're here. Were going to get to work together most of the time," she said jumping up and hugging me, "I decide what clothes to put on our models for the pictures."

"And I take the pictures after your finished with them and the articles from the multiple workers around here, and set the magazine up to be published," Rose added smiling, "So I will get to walk in on you guys some to."

"Wow I don't even know what to say. This is overwhelming. I can't wait to get started!," I replied smiling at them.

"By the way Bella, your outfit looks great. Good choice. The guys in the office have been eyeing you since you got here," Rose said appraising my outfit.

"Yeah looks like you took some of our advice from shopping after all. I would prefer only one guy noticed you though," Alice agreed now looking at my outfit.

"Let me guess, Edward," I stated smirking.

"Well duh Bella. I have told you before, you and him are made for each other. Its only a matter of time," she replied standing up. I quickly told them about my conversation with him earlier, and the stunned look he had when I kissed him on the cheek.

"Bella, Bella, Bella," Rose stated laughing, "where did all this confidence come from?"

"I don't know guys, but I think I really am starting to fall for Edward," I admitted blushing.

"YAY! See Bella I told you! When are you going to tell him?," she asked excitedly.

"Woah, I didn't say anything about telling him right now. I just don't think it's the right time, and I would really appreciate if you guys didn't say anything either," I said now getting a little worried. I knew how out of control Alice could get about this stuff.

"Don't worry Bella we will leave that decision to you, but I wouldn't wait too long. I would hate to see him swept up by someone else," Rose replied, "Anyway we better get to work instead of sitting around talking."

"Yeah good idea. Let me go get the models. Bella if you want to unload your camera you can put everything together over there in front of the set. There is a stand that way," Alice said pointing it out to me. I quickly walked over and got into the swing of things. Taking pictures came naturally to me, and I couldn't wait to get started. After a few minutes some models walked in. The girls were all tall and skinny, which is what you would typically see in a fashion magazine. The guys were extremely buff and tan as well.

"Can we hurry up and get this finished," a girl with long dirty blonde hair said, "I have things to do today, and I am not in the mood to be here."

"Well you can leave my set then," I retorted pointing towards the door. She didn't move, and at my statement I had all of the models attention.

"My name is Bella, and I am your new photographer," I continued, "I'm not going to waste my time on models who don't want to be here. So like I said to Blondie here you can get off of my set if you aren't committed to your work. I'm not here to waste your time, so don't waste mine. I don't take crap, and if you want to keep your job here I suggest you remember that. Now if there are no problems with any of that I'm sure we will all get along fine. I think Alice would like to see you in her office now to put the appropriate clothing on you for this shoot."

"Dang Bella. I didn't know you took your work so seriously," Alice said admirably, "I think I could get used to this Bella. Alright guys follow me."

I could see some of the guys smirking at each other and staring at me, while the girls glared. The other photographer obviously was a push over. I could already see the blonde was going to annoy me. Alice told me her name was Jessica, and they always had issues with her.

Alice finished dressing them and set them up on set the way she wanted throughout the photo shoot. I started to take pictures of each model, some together and some apart. Everything went smoothly, besides Jessica of course giving me the most problems. She complained about every position I put her in, but I again told her she could leave if she didn't like the way I did things. Finally they left and I could concentrate on editing my pictures.

"Well, Mrs. Swan I think you are doing a wonderful job. It seems Alice and Rose were right about you. Its nice to see a photographer finally come in here and take charge as well. I have been having trouble with Jessica for months, but nobody would stand up to her. Welcome to the staff," A guy behind me said appraising my work, "I'm Mr. Anderson the owner of the company," he continued shaking my hand.

"Thank you Mr. Anderson, and it is a pleasure to finally meet you. I really appreciate you offering me this position. I love photography, and I have had the hardest time finding a job in it," I replied. I could already tell I would like him.

"Well I knew anyone Rose and Alice recommended would be an excellent asset to the team, and I was right," he answered with a smile, "I will leave you to finish up your work. I just wanted to introduce myself."

"Well I appreciate that. It is nice to meeting you," I replied. When he left I turned back to my computer and continued to work on my editing.

"Wow Bella, these pictures are great," Rosalie said looking through the photos with me.

"Thanks. Like I said earlier I love my work, and I try very hard to make it look good," I replied. It took the rest of the day to finish editing the pictures and hand them over to Rosalie. She told me that it normally took that long.

"Hey Bella," I heard Alice say as I was gathering my things up to leave, "I just talked to Edward, and we were thinking we could all get together tonight and have some dinner."

"Yeah that sounds good," I replied following her to find Rose. I ate a small lunch at the office with Rose and Alice instead of going out after the photo shoot.

"I told him we would take you to the restaurant," she answered. After finding Rose we headed to a small Italian restaurant on the edge of town. I was excited to hang out with everyone. We haven't had dinner together since I moved into Edwards apartment.

As we got out of the car and walked to the restaurant door to find the guys Alice and I froze. We saw James leaning against the wall two buildings down from the one we were going into to. He was careful to be far enough away that he wasn't breaking the restraining order, and he was watching us closely. Rose saw us freeze and followed our gaze. She apparently found what we were staring at, because she quickly dragged us into the restaurant to find the boys.

"Alice what's wrong?," Jasper said quickly when he saw the look on her face as we approached there table. He jumped up and wrapped his arm around her.

I looked at Edward, and he immediately saw the fear in my eyes. He knew what happened without having to ask. "Where is he?," he questioned standing up.

"Wait you mean that scumbag James is around here," Emmett said jumping up quickly.

"Guys just sit down. We will explain everything, but there is no reason to run out there throwing punches," Rose said pulling out some chairs. We all sat down and gave the waitress our drink orders before we started talking.

"Okay so you mean to tell me he is "coincidently" leaning against a wall two buildings down watching you guys," Jasper said skeptically.

"That's no coincidence. He had to have been following you. I think we might have a more serious problem on our hands than we thought," Edward said rubbing his temples, "He is keeping his distance from you well enough away that he isn't violating any rules."

"Edward we don't know if he is following us. He could have seen us get out of the car when we pulled up, and that's why he was staring. I mean he does live in LA now," I said thinking of a logical explanation.

"That may be true Bella, but its still fishy," Emmett said wrapping his arm around Rose.

"You know what guys?," Rose said straightening up, "I think we should go away for a little while."

"What do you mean?," Alice inquired looking at her curiously.

"I think we should go on a vacation. I have been wanting to go to the beach for a while, and I think now would be the perfect time. It will give us time to think about what to do. We can let Bella finish out this week of work and leave first thing Saturday morning," She said urgently.

"You know your right Rosie. I mean its getting close to Halloween, so maybe we could go to Florida and stop in Alabama on the way. I would love to go to one of the haunted houses. You know there is this haunted factory called Sloss Furnace I've been wanting to go to. We should do that," Emmett said getting really excited.

"So your suggesting we just up and leave for a while?," Edward asked seriously.

"Yes I am," She replied staring intently back. We all looked at Edward waiting for his thoughts. If anyone was going to stop us it would be him.

"I like it. Lets leave Saturday," He replied shocking all of us.

"Yay! Our parents have a beach house in Florida we can stay at. They wouldn't mind," Alice said excitedly, "We are definitely going to have to go shopping though. Do you know how hot it is in Alabama and Florida? It may be cold here, but we could probably still swim down there."

"Well how long should we stay gone," I asked now getting excited as well. I would love to experience some hot whether for a while.

"I was thinking about two weeks," Rose responded.

"Do you think I can get two weeks off of work? I mean I just started," I asked her and Alice.

"Oh definitely. Mr. Anderson loves us, and he loves you now as well. I will explain the situation, and he will have no problem letting us go for a while. We basically finished the photo shoot for the magazine today anyway," Alice responded now finally relaxing enough to eat her food. I realized how hungry I was and started eating my mushroom ravioli as well.

"So, heading to the beach for two weeks," Jasper said now eating as well, "I like it."

"And the haunted houses. Don't forget the haunted houses!," Emmett said excitedly. Great now I will have things jumping out at me, but the beach did sounds extremely nice after the stress we have been going through. After settling what time we were leaving Saturday, we finished dinner on a much happier note than when we arrived.

So there you go. I realized what happened to Alice was horrible, but it really helps the story to progress. So now they are heading to the beach for two weeks, and who knows what could happen while they are away from the stress, especially with feelings running high. So anyway review and let me know what you think.