Edward dropped the basket of fishes, and used that hand to hold Bella close to him. "Little One, what's wrong?" He asked, rubbing her back gently as Bella sobbed against his chest.

"I... you... you came back, infine! Why so long, signore?" Bella asked softly, her voice heavy with emotions.

"Oh, Isabella, I'm so sorry to make you worry, my dear. I wanted to catch more fishes than usual so I would not need to go fishing tomorrow, so we could settle some of the things you need. Darling, I'm so sorry to make you worry." Edward said, touched to the core that the young girl would worry for him, and feeling reproachful that he had been the cause of her tears once more.

"Si, sorry, signore." Bella said, embarrassed at her tears once she had regained her senses.

"Oh, it's nothing to be sorry about, Isabella. I'm sorry, for making you worried. I should've known better than to leave you here alone, in a place which you're unfamiliar with for such a long time. Come, let's get in to the house first, alright? Your fingers are very cold." Edward said.

Bella nodded against his chest, before turning and picking up the basket full of fishes, walking with Edward back into the house. Edward kept an arm slung over Bella's shoulders. To keep her warm, he thought. I just want to keep her close, he knew.

Back in the house, Edward left his dead deer in the cold freezer room in the stables, and his fishes in the large ice box, before joining Bella for dinner.

"This is sumptuous, Isabella!" Edward exclaimed, upon tasting the roasted meat.

"No, signore, just use food in your fridge." Bella said, shyly, blushing lightly at the compliment. No one had ever complimented her before, except for him. She was finding out that she kind of liked it very much.

"Well, it is delicious! You're a fantastic cook, Little One."

Bella smiled shyly, as she dipped her head to continue eating her dinner. They ate in together in a comfortable quietness, neither needing to fill the silence with unnecessary words. Later, Bella rose to clean the dishes, but Edward stopped her. "I'll clean them, Isabella. You go and rest. Take a soak in the tub, or something. You've done lots of work around the house, darling. Take a rest, okay?"

Bella stared at him. Rest? What rest? But she did not want to appear an idiot in front of this guy who had been so nice to her, so she nodded. "I take a bath?" she said, only that it came out as a question.

"Yes, you take a bath. Go ahead." Edward smiled softly. Gosh, so beautiful, inside and out, he thought.

As Bella let the warm water cascade down her dark hair and back, she finally gave in to the itch at the back of her throat and started coughing. Her throat hurt, her chest hurt, her head hurt, and she was constantly feeling cold. Bella stifled a moan as she washed herself, hoping like hell that she wasn't falling ill. She did not want to cause Edward any more trouble than she already had at this point. Her parents always scolded her and beat her whenever she fell ill as a child. The last time she had stomach flu, her parents had locked her in her room with a bag full of Panadol instead of bringing her to the doctor. What if Edward found her too much of a bother and decided to throw her away? Bella closed her eyes, and prayed silently. "God, please don't let me fall ill now. I don't want to be alone anymore."

Later that night, Edward had brought out bolts of fabric from the storeroom into the study. Bella had looked on, confused. Was he really going to sew the clothes from scratch like this?

"Signore, you sew clothes from these?" Bella asked, tentatively softly so as to not irritate her sore throat.

"Yes Isabella. It's going to be winter soon, and you need warmer dresses and robes. I'm not very good at sewing women's clothing, but I'm sure I can figure something out. Do you know how to sew?" Edward asked, unwinding a long measuring tape.

"No, sorry, signore." Bella stuttered. Why would he bother to sew her clothes? She could not understand why anyone would bother to care for her. From a young age, Bella had been taught that she had to fend for herself if she was to survive. Find her own food, her own clothes. But here was a guy, who was willing to make her clothes, cook for her, and provide a shelter over her head. Bella could not understand why or how it worked.

"No matter. I was thinking of calling my sister to ask her to send some patterns over anyway. My sister is very good at dressmaking." Edward said, happily. "Here, let me take your measurements." He said, as he wound the tape around Bella's waist, arms, and bust.

Edward busied himself with the measurements, trying to avoid thoughts of his hands on Bella's body. Waist- 9 inches, bust- 12.6 inches, height- 67.5 inches. Don't think about her perfect hourglass figure. Don't think about how perfectly she'd fit against you. Concentrate, Edward Cullen!

Bella flushed, as Edward wound his hands and tapes around her body. Every touch of his skin against hers sends her heart racing in a way it had never before. Every brush of his skin against hers made her hair stand on ends, and a deep longing for more. More what? Bella couldn't understand what this foreign feeling was. Was it because of Edward, or because she might be falling ill?

"There! I'll call Alice or Rosalie tomorrow, and they'll send me the patterns soon. Meanwhile, we can work on sewing your robes. I'm quite sure robes are the same, regardless of whether you're a man or woman, no?" Edward asked.

Bella smiled, but kept quiet. What was she supposed to say- sir, we don't wear robes anymore, its 2011, Edward! No, that would not do. He was so kind and good to her, it wouldn't do to hurt his feelings. Besides, she was happy to have clothes to wear, regardless of the type of clothing. "Thank you, signore." She finally said, grateful for all the troubles Edward had gone through to help her survive with the new affliction- an eternity on earth.

Edward smiled, and held up two bolts of fabric. "Dark blue or red?" He asked.

That night, after they had both washed up, Edward and Bella lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling.

"Thank you for everything, signore." Bella finally whispered, in the dark, stifling the urge to cough, trying to ignore the pain in her chest and the chills that were wracking her thin body at this point.

Edward turned to face her, propping his head up with his hand. "Oh, Isabella, there's no need to thank me. Believe me; I am very happy to have you with me here. Life can get lonely living so long alone, you know?"

Bella smiled as she turned to face him too. "Si, I know." She replied quietly. More than you ever would, she thought.

"I guess you would know, if your parents kept you away from society for your entire life." Edward mused.

"Si, yes. I live with my parents, but it felt... lonely. Vuoto. Noioso." Bella replied.

"Vuoto?"

"Si. Vuoto. Empty. Though my house had much furniture."

Edward smiled. He could understand that feeling very well. "Yes, empty. I used to wonder what was the use of having so much money and time and things, if I wasn't happy."

"Si."

"But now I'm happy, these few days. Because I have a companion, at last." Because I have you, Edward added silently in his head, as he reached out to touch Bella's hand lightly.

Bella smiled. She liked the feeling of Edward's warm hand on hers. His hand was large and callused from the years of hard work. But she liked it, very much. It was comforting, and he was the only person to touch her in such a long time, that she had thought she'd forgotten what human touches were like before she met him.

Bella was very happy that her presence made Edward happy, for some reason. Like she was wanted here. Something she never was in her house in Milan. She couldn't imagine why would Edward want her around, but she supposed someone was better than no one. And Bella realised that she was happier here, than she ever was at home. More contented, more at peace. Less fearful and sad.

"Si, stesso qui. Anch'io. Me too."She replied quietly, smiling, forgetting about the pains all over her body as she closed her eyes and succumbed to sleep. She did not see the wide grin that broke out on Edward's face that night.

In the middle of the night, Edward woke up to the sound of Bella's muffled coughing. He reached over in alarm, to find that Bella's skin was deathly cold.

"Isabella!" Edward exclaimed, as he jolted awake and switched on the lights in alarm, gathering Bella with his free arm.

Bella was feeling cold and weak and tired, but even through the haze, she was worried about Edward throwing her out. "I'm okay, signore. Very fine, no worry." She said, hoarsely, muffling another coughing bout with her pillow.

Edward stared at Bella in alarm. She obviously was not alright. Her temperature had dropped to alarming depths, and she was shivering violently. Obviously she had caught something when she had went out to wait for him, Edward thought, upset at himself for being the cause of the poor girl's illness.

"Oh, Little One, you're obviously not alright! Where does it hurt?" Edward asked, as he pulled Bella to a sitting position, propping her up against himself.

"I'm alright, signore. J..just cold." Bella said.

"Oh, gosh." Edward mumbled to himself, as he rubbed his hands up and down Bella's arms to warm her up as best as he could. He then wrapped her up in some blankets, and laid her back down.

"Wait here, darling." He said, getting up to find something warm for Bella to drink. She had probably caught some hypothermia or a flu of some sort waiting for him outside in the harsh night air, he thought.

Bella, though, through the haze that clouded her brain, thought that Edward was going to throw her out for being ill when she saw him getting up. "No, Signore, I am not ill! Please, don't throw me away! Signore, I help you cook and clean very well! Please, signore!" She cried.

"What? Isabella, I'm not going to throw you out! What made you think that?" Edward asked, shocked.

Bella merely scrambled to get up and off the bed to show Edward that she was fine and healthy, but she was too dizzy to stand up straight. The world seemed to be hanging upside down, for some reason, and Bella was hit by a bout of nausea so strong that she gagged.

Edward immediately carried Bella to the toilet, in time for Bella to lose her dinner in the toilet bowl. Holding her hair away from her face, Edward sighed. Obviously Bella had some abandonment issues, which was not surprising considering how awful her parents were to her. Edward felt upset for the poor girl, and guilty that he was probably the cause of her sickness.

Edward squeezed toothpaste onto Bella's toothbrush and handed it to her, silently. Bella took it from him and brushed her teeth quietly, tears streaming down her face. Was he going to get rid of her? Did he hate her now?

"I'm sorry, signore. Really. I'm not sick. I won't fall ill anymore." Bella tried, one last time.

Edward sighed, and gathered the girl into his arms. "Oh, my darling, it's not your fault, you don't have to apologise to me. I'm not going to throw you away, my dear, not when you're the best thing that's happened to me in like, forever. Come now, you're obviously ill. I'm going to lay you down on the bed and go downstairs to fetch something to help you get better, alright? I'm not going to abandon you, Isabella."

Bella stared up at Edward. Did he mean all that he said? How was it possible?

"Yes, I mean what I just said. Come, now." Edward said, as he carried Bella to the bed, before going downstairs to get her some of the special herbal tea Esme had given him. It was a potent tonic that cured most minor illnesses, as Edward had found. He hoped it would work for Bella too.

Edward sat on the edge of the bed, and watched as Bella took the bitter tonic and drank it all.

"Good girl. Come now, go to sleep. It'll be alright in the morning, okay?"

Bella merely nodded, as she drifted off to a deep slumber filled with reassuring words from a large burly prince with copper hair.

The next morning, Bella awoke, feeling much better. Her throat did not hurt, her muscles did not ache quite as much as the night before, and she wasn't freezing anymore. She blinked, and turned her head to find that she was lying on Edward's chiselled chest. She gasped quietly. Edward snored softly, his hands holding Bella immobile against him protectively.

Bella looked up at Edward's face, and realised that he must have stayed up most of the night taking care of her. Bella was deeply touched that Edward would bother doing that for her, and realised in that instant that not everyone was like her parents. There were bad people, like Renee and Charles, but there were also the saints that the bible wrote of, like Edward Cullen.

A/N: The story's a little slow in starting off, but it'll speed up with more action and the rest of the family will come in soon. Bella needs to realise that Edward isn't going to abandon her at the drop of a hat first:)

To all that's reading, have a happy New Year 2012:)

Cheers=D