AN: Sorry about the delay. I was on vacation. Thanks for the reviews.

BPOV

The shopping trip was not as terrible as it might have been. Esme and Alice got my clothes first so I was free to spend a few hours with Emmett, Jasper, and Edward in the arcade. They were playing a racing game, and I had cheered them on through the first few games, but I was sort of bored. They had offered to let me play but I refused, knowing I would be no good at it. I wandered over to the prize display admiring a little cat stuffed animal. Suddenly, somebody rammed me roughly from the side and I fell to the floor hard.

I glared at the oblivious group of teenaged boys, and stood up, shaking it off. I had enough practice, anyway. My hip was a little tender but I was fine. I began to make my way back over to Edward, who I saw was looking at me, but there were so many people I couldn't get through.

"Bella!" Alice said right next to me. I almost screamed in surprise.

"Alice," I said breathlessly, "what…?" I began.

"You fell." She said.

"How…?"

"I saw you." She answered curtly. I looked at her suspiciously. Where had she been? "Are you alright?" She began inspecting me.

"I'm fine," I insisted convincingly enough that she stopped. Her face turned angry. "Those boys are in so much trouble." She said darkly, then, she easily pushed through the group of teenagers with me in tow. Jasper, sensing his wife's anger stood nervously next to Edward. Emmett was still unaware to the whole situation. When we reached them, Edward tried to take me from Alice but she held me protectively behind her.

I watched in awe as tiny Alice went straight up to giant Emmett and smacked the back of his head soundly. Then turned to Jasper and Edward and repeated the action.

Emmett removed himself from the race car box and saw angry Alice holding my hand. I looked at them sheepishly. Whoops.

"Just wait until our parents find out that you lost track of our baby sister." She said clearly angry.

"She was here the whole time," Jasper countered, "weren't you Bella." All eyes on me I looked down nervously.

"Uh, I went just over there. I didn't think it would be a problem." I shrugged. "I'm sorry." I said, only partially meaning it. I honestly hadn't ventured more than ten feet.

Edward took my hand comfortingly. "Alice," he said, "she's nine, not three." She's allowed to wander a few feet from us. Besides, I was keeping an eye on her.

"What you don't know," Alice began, "is that you missed the part where some stupid idiot rammed into her without noticing." Edward just looked surprised.

"Come here, Bella" Alice said. She slung me on her back a little more sternly than necessary. It wasn't in the nice sisterly way, it was in the, I'm angry and am going to assert my authority way.

I rested my head on her shoulder meekly and shared a martyred look with Emmett. Jasper looked very repentant. He tried to take Alice's hand and she rejected him twice before finally forgiving him enough to allow it.

EPOV

Alice was overreacting, but my dead internal organs still twisted in anxiety. Alice had showed me Bella's fall, and I wanted to make sure she was alright. I felt so strangely about Bella.

When I heard her walking away from my brothers and me, I had been very alert, making sure to watch her from others' watching eyes. I missed that vile teenager ramming her like that because he didn't notice. I jumped from my seat the second I lost "sight" of Bella.

Bella! Bella! I'm going to kill Jasper…

I had honed in on Alice's voice finding Bella immediately both through Alice's mind and my own two eyes.

Walking through the mall, Bella looked small, even on tiny Alice's back. Her head spun around to look at me and I rubbed her back soothingly. Alice glared but didn't interfere. Bella was my bond mate, after all.

Edward, Jasper called with his mind. Why does Bella feel so anxious?

I shrugged. Alice was probably setting her on edge. We met up with Rosalie, Carlisle, and Esme. Alice let Bella down so that she could receive a hug from each of them.

"Bella fell." Emmett informed them matter-of-factly. It had become a very common expression in our family. Carlisle wasted no time standing Bella in front of him and checking all over for injuries.

He found the bruise on her hip in seconds, only knowing it was there because he could smell the swell of blood. She stood still for him, very much accustomed to his ministrations.

"I'm fine, Carlisle," she insisted.

"Just let him check," Rosalie said gently, smoothing a piece of hair back from Bella's face. Bella gave the tiniest huff that everyone heard.

Carlisle chuckled at one of Bella's relatively rare displays of childishness and, true to his old-fashioned nature, picked her up and patted her bottom softly.

Realizing he had heard her and Bella turned slightly pink and attempted to pull away from Carlisle's grasp. Carlisle simply kissed her forehead. She buried her face in his neck.

BPOV

I let Carlisle hold me, and felt unwanted tears come to my eyes. He reminded me very much of my own dad when he held me. I gripped harder.

Carlisle, or someone, noticed my sudden mood swing because Edward was now patting my back.

"What's wrong, Bella?" He asked me.

I held tighter to Carlisle. "I miss my daddy." I said, tired of being strong.

Silence reigned momentarily.

"Let her feel, Jasper." Carlisle said, confusing me. "I think it is time to head home." He finished.

Rosalie gently uncurled one of my hands and placed a handkerchief into it. I kept my eyes closed, holding back. I could hardly breathe and my throat ached with the force of my resistance.

Carlisle buckled me in tight, but he sat with me, letting Esme drive. Edward held my hand on the other side. I quietly cried all the way home, and eventually succumbed to sleep.

EPOV

Bella's emotional breakdown yesterday resulted in Esme and Carlisle staying with Bella and me all night. We all sat on Bella's rather large bed, soothing her restless sleep and comforting each other. Both were in parental overdrive. Bella shifted slightly, as though she was uncomfortable. Carlisle tenderly smoothed her hair back.

"Momma?" Bella called out, still sleeping. Esme and Carlisle shared a pained look.

"Dad?" she asked. "Wait! Don't leave!" I shook Bella gently and called for her, trying to rouse her from her nightmare. She inhaled sharply and shot straight up in bed.

"Momma," she said, her voice strangled. She surprised me by throwing her arms around my neck. She didn't cry, she just held on tight. She wouldn't talk, and she wouldn't lie back down, despite our attempts.

Carlisle had gone to fetch a thermometer, feeling helpless. Rosalie, Alice, and Jasper were in the room, now, looking worriedly at Bella.

Her feelings belong to a lonely old woman. Depressed, she is depressed, confused, lost.

I nodded my thanks to Jasper for the insight. I decided it was time do something for Bella.

"Start a bath, Rose." I said quietly. She did so, happy to have something to do.

I stood up, Bella clinging, and transferred her reluctantly into Esme's arms. She looked at me with betrayal but allowed Esme to hold her tightly.

I looked at her apologetically before I went to my room to slip on a pair swim trunks, leaving my shirt. I knew that Bella would not calm down without me.

I made my way back to Bella's room and was pleased when I saw that Alice had seen my plan and had Bella in a bathing suit as well. Rosalie was holding Bella securely, but Bella reached for me the second I walked in the room.

I took Bella back into my arms, feeling the constriction in my chest, which I associated with our bond, relax. She relaxed too.

I didn't miss Rosalie's sad thoughts that Bella needed me more than her. Rosalie was selfish, but I felt sorry for her and tried to comfort her by rubbing her shoulder lightly as I passed her, she was my little sister after all.

The bathtub was very big. I handed Bella, who was still being unresponsive, to Carlisle so that I could climb in. He put her back in my arms. I held her and Esme calmly poured water over us.

Alice went to get a small CD player from my room and played soft music. It took almost an hour before Bella finally drifted back to sleep with her head on my wet shoulder.

BPOV

The few days after our shopping trip were awful. I could hardly think through the fog. Carlisle called it a "healthy relapse." On the second day, Edward had to leave for awhile.

"I'm sorry Bella, truly." He said "An hour at most." I held him tightly crying hard and feeling both betrayed and angry.

"Let go, Bella." Rosalie said with kindness tugging gently on my waist. "The sooner he's gone, the sooner he will return."

I gave in and let go. Edward left me. I allowed Rosalie to hold me in the living room. The rest of the family was there except Carlisle who went with Edward. After awhile, I got up and went to the grand piano that sat there.

In the month that I had been with the Cullen's, I had not once heard it being used. I sat down, not caring that it was rude to do so without asking permission from the owner.

No one spoke. I looked at the sheet music, only knowing the notes on the top line, the g cleft, from my few years of violin. I touched a single note on the piano and recognized it as a C note. Pressing more keys, I soon located all the notes that I knew on the violin.

This information in mind, I blocked the pain of not having Edward, and tried to play a violin piece on the piano. It sounded very simplistic, and I realized that it sounded much better on the violin, but I didn't care. Bored with that, I tried again to read the music on the piano. I decided to just play the notes on the g cleft.

The sound was perfect, but incomplete, just like how I felt right now. I was not playing half the notes in the song, and my other half, Edward, was missing. It felt so right.

I played and played, over and over, the same song. The ache in my chest grew with the passing of time. I knew Edward couldn't be too far. I would feel terrible if he were.

Suddenly, when I could hardly stand any more, there were hands with mine, playing the other notes. We finished the song together. In contrast to the lonely tone of my original playing, it now sounded joyful, complete.

I instinctively knew it was Edward beside me, and without looking, I wrapped my arms around him.

AN: Please review. Part of the reason for the delay of this chapter was lack of motivation. If you have ever posted a story, you know that if no one reviews, you feel no reason to keep posting. I'm writing for myself, but I'm posting for feedback. Thanks to everyone who did review!

Also, I'm looking for a beta. Let me know if you are interested.