Disclaimer: All the Twilight stuff belongs to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended.

I would like to say a big TeamAllTwilight for her help also like to thank Butterflybetty and Jess2002 for their help too

Chapter 5: Facing Fears

16 July 2010

I had been working with Bella on her fear of water for the past five days. She wasn't even close to kidding, when she said the she was terrified of water. The day after she told me about her dad, and her fear was the first day we tried anything. I had to see how bad it was, I started to fill the bath up. I told her to change into her swimsuit, and asked her to meet me in the bathroom. The tub was not even half way full, and the water was off. I helped her to stand in the water one foot slowly at a time. I helped her stand in the water slowly, one foot at a time. After just standing there for a few seconds, she began to panic. She began shaking, and her breathing became irregular just from the sight of the water on her feet. I had to lift her out as she was not moving, her body had frozen up. I sat down on the floor with her on my lap, lightly rubbing her back as I whispered to her that she was safe. Eventually she calmed down; it took almost an hour.

Five days later, here we are again, working on her fear of water. Bella has been taken some small steps, but is not getting there yet. We have set up safe words for her, if she said caterpillar, she was okay, and could go further. Butterfly means that she needs to back up a bit, and dragonfly means that I have to get her out now. These words are more for the pool than the bathtub, but I wanted them in place from the beginning. Right now, she is meditating; going to her happy place before we get into the bathtub. I really don't want to get into the bathtub with Bella. Bella likes her bath water really hot, and if I was a lobster I could be cooked in her bath water.

"Bella, are you ready?"

"Yeah, I'm coming, Edward."

She came in to the bathroom in her midnight blue swimsuit. God, she looks great in that color. It's now not only my favorite color, but my favorite color on Bella. Shit, I really need to stop thinking of her like that! She's only sixteen. Well, she'll be seventeen in eight weeks, but she does act much older than her age. Shit! No, she is just my friend. Stop the bad, bad thoughts, right now.

Bella and I have been in the bath for twenty minutes now, and she completely calm.

"Bella, I think tomorrow we should start going into the pool. You're doing fine in the tub. Now we need to take the next step. We will take our time, but are you okay with trying that tomorrow?"

"Yeah, but you need to stay right next to me," she said sounding unsure.

"Of course I will, where else would I be?" I asked.

17 July 2010

It is midnight, and Bella and I have snuck down to the pool.

"Close your eyes, Bella, and hold my hand. I will not take you far in the pool," I told her.

"Sh…sh…sh…sure j…ja…just ke…keep a hold of m…m…me okay? Please, don't let go?" she asked and begged at the same time.

Then I had an amazing thought, a great idea on how I could get Bella into the pool.

"Come on little one, I said as I took her hand into mine. I have and an idea. Do you trust me?" I asked her.

She opened her eyes, I give her my crooked smile.

"No not at all, not when you smirk like that."

I arched my eyebrow at her, and she giggled.

"Fine. Yes, I trust you, Cullen."

"Bella, stop trying to piss me off, it's not going to work, we are getting in this pool. I am going to lift you into the pool. You have to put your arms around my neck, and your legs around my waist. We will be face to face, and I will have my hands at your sides. Okay?" I asked her.

"Hmm," was the only noise that she made.

"Hmm? What is hmm supposed to mean?"

Bella shrugged her shoulders lightly, while biting on her lip.

"Bella, it will be better this way. I was thinking on giving you a piggy back ride to the foot point. However, with you behind my back, I would not be able to see your face. I need to see your face, so I can see that you're okay. Also, it will give me the ability to hold you better, just trust me. Now, wrap your arms around my neck and jump up here, I will catch you."

"Edward I am too…"

"Stop right there. Do not end that sentence. If you do, I will not tell you why Alice got grounded. Oh, and either way you're going in the pool, Isabella."

"Shit, you really know that the rumours are quite entertaining. Okay, you win. You drop me, and I drown, I am going to haunt you for the rest of your natural born life."

As she wraps her small arms around my neck, I lift her up. As I feel her legs go around my centre, I tell her to close her eyes.

I began to walk into the pool. I was glad that it is a zero entry pool, I wasn't sure I would be able to handle steps right now.

"Okay, well, this story starts of Friday the twenty-eighth of May. You see Alice is an avid shopper, and she always hears about the best deals. She found out the Bloomingdale's store, in Seattle, was doing a big sale on the fifth of June. There was going to be loads of things fifty percent off. She just had to go. Jasper, Emmett, and I all had an away game, and were not going to back in town till noon that day. Rose was going to her grandma and grandpa's fortieth wedding anniversary, so Alice had to go alone. The sale started at ten that morning, she wanted to get there early. She planned to leave at six in the morning, planning to get there at eight. She planned to sit outside and wait for the store to open."

Bella looked confused at this point, but kept her eyes closed.

"Are you still keeping up with me?" I asked her.

"Yeah, I just don't understand one thing, if she left at six how could she get there by eight? It's like at least a three hour drive to get there, on a good day."

"Good point, you see Alice likes to speed, she likes driving fast!"

"Ah, I should of thought of that. After seeing how you drive, I take it that it's a Cullen thing."

I laughed loudly at her assumption. "Yeah, I guess it is. Anyway, back to the story. A little after three, a police car shows up. My dad asked me what I had done, before answering the door. He then goes to the door, and there is Alice standing with the police officer. Dad told them to come in, and I was told to go upstairs. I didn't want to miss this, so I pushed our intercom on and ran upstairs."

"Oh, so you like to eavesdrop and be sneaky?" Bella said cheekily.

I chuckled and shushed her, then started back into the story.

"So, I hear the officer says he is Officer Stevens from Seattle. He says at 7:55 this morning he saw a yellow Porsche doing ninety miles per hour. The speed limit is only fifty-five. He went on to say it took Alice twenty-five minutes before she pulled over. My dad asks Alice what took her so long. Alice said I thought he was going for doughnuts!"

Bella started laughing and the vibrations from her laughs were making me hold her tighter to me.

I would have to figure out what her body was doing to mine later.

"So, my mother shrieks 'ALICE'. The officer goes on to say that he was going to give her a warning, but her smart comment ended with him taking her in. He also informed them that she had to go to court on Monday. My dad asked what was said. I hear the sound of papers shuffling then, and hear the officer say I wrote it all down."

"What did she say Edward?" Bella asked me.

"Well, my dad read it out loud to my mom, it was funny. It went like this!"

I prepared myself to do the different voices, knowing that would make it funnier.

"The officer said to Alice: Hello ma'am I am officer Stevens of the Seattle police department, do you know why I pulled you over?" I said in my best officer voice.

"That depends on how long you've been following me," I said in my best Alice impersonation.

"Well ma'am, you were speeding almost forty miles per hour over the speed limit. Is there a reason that you were going so fast?" I said in my officer voice.

"Yeah, of course. A really great sale at Bloomingdales, and you're delaying me. You're lucky this car needs a tune-up, or you would never have caught up to me," I said in my Alice voice.

"I want your license, registration and proof of insurance…NOW," I said in my officer voice.

"Fine. Here you go doughnut boy. Oop's that's the fake one, here is the real license," I said in my Alice voice.

"Step out of the vehicle ma'am, you are coming with me," I said in my officer voice.

"My dad stopped reading, I am sure it was because he was speechless. After about ten minutes my dad asked why he was not informed that she was taken into the police station. Office Stevens said that Alice was eighteen, she had turned eighteen five days before this all happened. Alice was given a phone call, and he suggested that she call her parents. Alice refused for her parents to be called, and since she was eighteen they had to go by her choice."

Bella's shoulders were shaking slightly with her chuckles.

"Dad asked Alice who she called, thinking she called a lawyer. No not Alice, she made a call all right, but not to an attorney. Alice used her phone call to call Bloomingdale's to ask for some of her favourite items she saw on their web site to be put aside for her to pick up later. Then she preceded to though a temper tantrum when they told her no. Officer Stevens told my dad that her car is at the Settle city car in-pound lot. The multiple fines and towing fee would have to be paid in full, for them to pick it up. He went on to say that after Alice spent three hours in the cell, before he felt so sorry for her and brought her home. My dad thanked him and showed him out. As dad closed the door, Alice said I think someone should tell him that the uniform makes his ass look really big. My dad yelled asking her why she was driving so fast. She told him that she slept in, and then got a flat tire. So, she had to make up some of the time she lost. She went on to say that, because of officer ass-hat she did get to go to the best sale ever, and that he should have been out catching real criminals. At that my dad lost it. Now mind you, Alice has done number of things over the years, but being daddy's little girl she got away with most everything, and dad has never raised his voice to her. So, after him yelling at her, and taking all her credit cards away from her, he told her of her punishment. He told her that she will be doing chores both at home, and at the hospital to work of the cost of getting her car out of the in-pound. He yelled that if she was lucky enough to keep her license, she still would not be able to drive her car until our first semester back at school."

I could feel Bella laugh again, and she was trying hard not too. The vibrations of her muted giggles made that current flash across my skin yet again.

"Oh-My-God! Sorry that I am laughing, I feel bad for you. It must be hard living with her. I know how much Alice lives for her car, shopping, and Jasper," she said.

"You know her pretty well. Yeah, I am glad that I am here and not at the house right now. She was getting a bit scary before I left, Norman Bates kind of scary too."

This caused more chuckles from deep inside Bella's tummy, and that vibrated right across my lower abdomen.

"Anyway, the next morning, both Alice and dad blamed me, for not taking her. Dad was even going to ground me before my mom told him it was not my fault. He was going to keep me home from here. Mom stood up and told me to go pack, and demanded that my father talk to her right now."

"Now, how was it your fault you weren't there?"

"Yeah, but he thinks that I have been a bad influence on her, for the fact that I speed most of the time. Then because I did not take her, he forgot I had an away game. "

"Yeah, but your also smart enough to know not to talk like that to an officer. Did she not think that saying shit like that would get her in trouble?"

"I am not sure, Alice gets away with so much. She talks to Emmett, Jasper, and me like that a lot. Dad and Jasper tend to turn a blind eye to it."

"Well, I think your dad should look in the mirror when he is looking for someone to blame. If only he would just tell her no, and not cave when she give him her puppy dog looks. God, I know that she done some shit, maybe not all as bad as you and Emmett, but she still done stuff and never has to deal with the consequences ," Bella pointed out.

I laughed at Bella's outlook on the situation. "You know that is what mom said. Mom told dad that he was not to blame me, that this was all Alice. Alice is the one that spoke to the officer like that and not me."

I started to feel a little sad at the thought of how my dad sees me. Bella must have felt something, because she opened her eyes looking right at me.

"Oh shit! We are really far in the pool Edward. You said…"

I felt her start to panic, so I squeezed her to me tighter and started moving out of the pool.

"Bella, calm down I've got you. I am not going to let anything hurt you, I am right here. Just take deep breaths, in for four seconds, hold for four, and then exhale for four. Come on love, I will do it with you."

We were at hip deep water, when I stopped exiting the pool. After a few minutes of breathing together, she was calm.

"Hey, this isn't so bad," she said finally.

"Do you think you could stand on your own?" I asked her.

She tightens her grip around my neck and buried her face into my neck.

I chuckled at her reaction.

"Do you think you done enough for tonight, or would you like to stay a bit longer?" I ask.

"Yeah, I think I am done. I don't want to push it too much, let's go and get some hot chocolate and cookies."

"That sounds like a plan to me," I told her.

I took Bella out of the pool hand her towel.

"Hey, Bella, you're doing really well! You're going to be swimming in no time. Well done! You did not freak out back there," I told her.

"That was because of you, Edward, you keep me calm."

"No Bella, it was you. I just gave you the steps, but you chose to take them."

We made it back to our apartment, and had our hot chocolate. It's so easy being with Bella, I had never felt so at ease with anyone else. I could be myself with her, and not worry that she would look at me and see anything or anyone but the real me.

"Hey Edward, are you afraid of anything?"

"Nope nothing," I told her.

"Come on Edward, tell me what you're afraid of. I told you my fears."

"Okay fine, I am afraid of baked beans." I said as, she laughed.

"What? Baked beans? Come on!"

"Seriously baked beans," I told her.

"Okay, so if you are, then why…why are you scared of baked beans?"

"Bella, I live with Emmett, who loves them! Did I mention that at one point I shared a room with him? You'd be scared of baked beans too, if you were around him."

Bella was cracking up so much I thought she might fall off the sofa.

"Shouldn't you be scared of Emmett breaking wind, instead of baked beans?"

"Yeah, but then everyone is scared of Emmett breaking wind. I don't like to be the same as everyone else, you know?"

"Yeah, I know. I am off to bed now, see you tomorrow Edward, goodnight."

"Goodnight, Bella," I said to her as I watched her go to her room.

I head to my bedroom thinking of what Bella asked. A part of me wanted to tell her my real fear, but that would lead to questions that I don't want to answer right now. I know I will tell her eventually, but it won't be today. I was going to help Bella with her fear. A part of me knew she would help me with my fear, but I know wasn't going to be easy. How do you help someone who had a fear of being left on their own? I didn't mean on my own like have time to myself, I meant on my own. I meant having no one to turn to, when I need them.

I started to fall asleep, I knew tonight would be a bad night. For me my monsters were coming back, and I couldn't stop them.

Thank you for reading my story and I hope that you enjoy it, please leave a review and let me know what you think of it, I will give people who review a short teaser for the next chapter