I closed my eyes, feeling the cold glass against my lips as the dry, red wine slipped down my throat. Rosalie's careful hands ran through my hair slowly, by her speed, creating a long braid that sat at my spine.

Alice was finding a movie on the television in the Cullen's living room, claiming that a comedy was exactly what I needed to help me feel better. I disagreed.

"Alice," I started, "can we watch a horror movie instead?" I put on my best 'please' face as she turned around, looking at me with mild surprise.

"Sure," she turned back toward the TV, switching gears as she began searching for the new genre. "As long as there aren't any vampires." I could almost see her smirk.

I smiled, taking another sip of my wine as I watched her scroll through the horror movie options. She chose something generic and supernatural and guaranteed to have a lot of gore. It was a perfect pick for my mood.

The entire ride back to the Cullen home was full of tearful explanations from me, and promises of murder from Rosalie. By the time the hour-long car ride was over, I was more than ready to fall into a bed and sleep the rest of the day away. Alice, though, ever my best friend, handed me a makeup wipe, a glass of wine, and told me that I was not to fall into a depression sleep no matter how well deserved it was. So, here I am.

"Bellaaaaa!" I winced. A stoked Emmett is not what I wanted to deal with right now. Not to mention that his appearance probably meant the rest of them were home, too. I was not ready to explain what had happened this afternoon to the family, least of all Edward.

The Cullen men and Esme entered the room and halted immediately, looking at Alice and Rosalie for some kind of clue as to what was going on. Here I was, a glass of wine in hand, puffy red eyes and blotchy cheeks, watching a family being brutally murdered by a ghost. Totally normal.

I should have known it wouldn't take Edward but ten seconds to pick it out of their brains, but I wasn't any less surprised when his eyes turned angry before I even opened my mouth.

"You can't be serious," he said, shaking his head. Edward turned toward the large windows on the other side of the room, seemingly trying to compose himself. I knew I had returned to my role as the baby of the family and that everyone would be upset with Ryan, so I was expecting the reaction.

I heard Alice's trilling voice as she relayed the information to the rest of the group. My eyes stayed stuck to my glass, swirling the dark liquid around to distract myself. I smirked, realizing that it kind of looked like blood if I really tried to use my imagination.

"He better start praying because I'm going to kick his ass!" Emmett stormed.

"Oh, I've already started planning. Bella left her backpack at his house and I simply can't wait to pay him a visit when we go get it back." She shared a nod with her husband and I wondered if I should start praying for Ryan too, despite what he had done.

I only looked up when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Edward was rubbing his thumb over the top of my arm, causing chills to run down to my wrist. I sighed and laid my hand on top of his, squeezing his fingers before dropping my hand back down to my lap.

"This sucks," I said, causing every head in the room to turn to me, "but I'm going to be just fine. Eventually." I believed it. Nothing could hurt as bad as when the Cullens left me, and I had survived that.

"You're right, Bella." Jasper spoke up, causing me to give him a small smile. "I can feel how strong you are, but that doesn't mean that you don't need to lean on us."

Esme joined me on the couch. "Exactly. Let us help you, honey. We love you so much and we want to make it as easy as it can be." I felt my eyes well up with tears as she put an arm around me.

"Thanks, guys." It was all I could say. I didn't trust my shaky voice to get anything else out. Edward sat on my other side, the rest of the family settling in various places around the room. We watched the rest of the movie in comfortable silence.

After the movie ended, I stretched my arms and yawned, causing a few of the Cullens to smile at my basic human actions.

"Well, someone's not driving tonight." Alice giggled, pointedly looking at my third glass of wine that was nearly empty.

I shrugged my shoulders dramatically and took another sip, narrowing my eyes jokingly as I looked at her over the brim of my glass.

"Would you like one of us to drive you home, or would you like to stay here?" Carlisle's soothing voice asked. I wasn't sure how to respond, at first. Did I want to take that extra step in my relationship with the Cullens? I was already setting myself up for heartbreak by becoming close to them again and staying over would take that even further. On the other hand, the last thing I wanted to do was face my roommates tonight. They were some of my best friends and there would be no way I could hide what happened tonight from them.

"I don't think I feel like explaining myself to my roommates tonight. Would it be okay if I stayed here on your couch?" Even though they offered, I suddenly felt silly asking. I could feel my blush appear on my cheeks.

"Bella of course you can stay here!" Esme placed her hand on my knee gently. "However, you won't be staying on the couch."

"You can stay in my room!" Alice replaced the wine glass in my hand with a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. I loved her.

"Thanks, Alice." I pushed myself up off of the couch and gave her a quick hug. "Goodnight, everyone."

A chorus of farewells followed me up the stairs as I made my way to Alice and Jasper's room. I used their bathroom to get ready for bed and quickly tucked myself under the covers. Between the day I'd had and the wine, I was exhausted.

The silence in the Cullen house was intimidating. I couldn't possibly get to sleep with all of the thoughts running around my head. How could I have possibly missed that Ryan was betraying me? I had blindly believed every word he said about going to work on his normal days off and being too busy with homework to hang out. I was such an idiot.

I rolled over and tapped my phone screen, groaning lightly when I saw the time.

3:21 a.m.

I was never going to get to sleep like this. An idea crossed my mind, but I tried to stamp it out before it even took hold.

Suddenly, before I could stop them, I was met with a barrage of memories; some of which I thought of often, others that I hadn't in a while. Edward holding me and stroking my hair as I fell asleep. Edward humming my lullaby lightly so that Charlie wouldn't hear.

I sat straight up in the silk-covered bed. I was going insane. It was completely ridiculous to be thinking about another man just hours after my longest relationship had ended. But it wasn't really the romance of my time with Edward that was weighing on me tonight, was it?

No. It was the comfort. During my time with Edward, whenever I was in pain, emotional or physical, he knew exactly what it took to calm me down. I craved that now, never really feeling that from anyone but him and Jacob. And clearly, Jake wasn't the realistic choice here.

With that resounding thought, I swung both feet out of bed, letting them hit the ground softly. I rolled my eyes at my attempts to be quiet, knowing full well that every vampire in the house could tell I wasn't asleep yet. I crept toward the bedroom door anyway and opened it almost silently.

I padded down the hall toward the last bedroom. A sliver of light was present on the carpet outside of the closed door, and my heart began to quicken as I tried to ignore my anxiety over what I was about to do. I raised my fist and knocked twice.

"Come in, Bella." His smooth voice came from inside the room. I carefully turned the knob and pushed the door open. I was greeted with the sight of Edward leaning against his headboard with a book in his hands, glancing up at me as I stepped into his space. I turned to shut the door behind me, giving us the illusion of privacy.

He had a pleasant, curious look on his flawless face and I took a few more steps toward him.

"I was having a hard time sleeping, so I thought I would come see what you were up to. Is everyone still here?" It occurred to me that some of the family may have left to hunt.

"It's actually just us and Carlisle at the moment. Everyone else is out running together. Some needed to hunt anyway." Edward stuck a bookmark in his book, which seemed asinine with his sharp memory. "Carlisle only stayed to do some research."

I nodded my head, averting my eyes from his gold ones by observing the objects placed around his room. His CDs, books, and radio, among other things.

"Forgive me if this is an odd suggestion, Bella, but-" Edward paused, picking up his book again. "I'm rereading Jane Austen again, would you like to listen while I read for a while?"

I was so utterly relieved by his offer that I let out a large breath and gave my first genuine smile since that afternoon. "I think that would be lovely."

He smiled back, patting the spot next to him on his bed lightly. I shyly crawled up onto the bed, shifting the pillows behind me so that I would be sitting up just a little bit. We weren't touching, but I already felt more relaxed as his hypnotizing voice began to relay one of my favorite stories.

Before I knew it, I was dozing off. I could still hear Edward speaking the words of the story, but I was no longer paying close attention as my heavy eyelids finally shut for the night. The last sensation I vaguely remembered was a warm blanket covering my body and the lights going out.