Some people wanted to know why Edward and Bella don't just escape. Here's your answer: First, James would look for them, and if he found them, they'd most likely be killed. They have no idea where they are. Edward has been never allowed to leave his house, and Bella is just in the middle of nowhere obviously. Second, if they told the police, Edward would most definitely go to jail even if Bella said it wasnt true. They'd think that she was scared into saying that. I hope it's cleared up. If you have anymore questions, just ask in a review :)


Chapter 7

Bella POV

I sat down next to Edward on the rock. I lay next to him, one arm behind my head, the other, holding his hand. The feeling of the currents of electricity flowing through our touching skin was amazing. It made me smile, my heart filling with joy. I went over the words he had said before in my mind. He said he was bad, and that he did "things". What did that mean?

"Edward?" I asked nervously, afraid he'd get mad to have to tell me about his past.

He looked at me, his eyes full of distress. He looked horrible, and not in a way like someone just got beaten up - which he did. No, he looked horrible as in an emotional wreck.

I rolled onto my side, watching as his thumb traced comforting circles on the side of my hand.

"Will you tell me?" I whispered, staring at our entwined hands.

It was silent, the only sound was crickets in the background, and it fit the very tenuous atmosphere.

"About what?" he whispered back, staring off into the top of the willow tree.

"About…your life - before James, I mean," I stuttered nervously.

His eyebrows knitted together, and I bit my lip.

"You said that I didn't understand," I said. "I want to understand," I pretty much pleaded. "I want to know every part of you."

He met my pleading gaze, and his eyes still held that same sadness. "It's bad," he whispered almost inaudibly. "I don't…I don't want you to think…" He groaned.

I rolled my eyes. "Just spit it out, Edward."

He sat up, pulling me onto his lap so I couldn't see his face. "My life sucks," he began.

Edward POV

I stared at the top of her head, trying to keep myself from getting lost in my memories like I usually did when remembering these things. I put my nose against her hair and took a good whiff to keep my head clear and focused on the present.

"I was like any other kid, I guess," I said indifferently. "I had a mom and dad who did it every night, and were happy. I had nice - weird - but nicely smelling grandparents, and…I was happy." I frowned, thinking back to my childhood, just like I had just forced myself not to do. I could remember my mom's dimples as she smiled at me, her face almost identical to mine. I could remember my dad teaching me to ride a bike in our front yard in Chicago…. How could everything have changed so rapidly? It seemed as if it was only yesterday.

She nodded encouragingly.

"It was Christmas Eve," I said, my eyes going into the zone of my imagination. "My mom had all these decorations, and she made me wear this really girly, stupid sweater that smelled like bleach." I gagged, trying to lighten the mood, but she wasn't happy with my avoidance.

"Continue," she said.

I rolled my eyes. "So, we were just hanging out. I was twelve." My brow furrowed. "It was late - well, late for a little kid - and my mom was making me go to bed soon, but someone knocked on the door…"

She stiffened.

"My dad answered it," I said, recalling it perfectly. "But when he opened the door, it was empty, just the snow and ice left waiting." I shook my head. "I begged my mom to let me stay up, and she agreed. We were sitting in the living room, just enjoying the rest of the night before 'Santa' came."

She stared at me, her bottomless eyes searching mine with fear. She could feel what was coming. I could imagine that my own fear of just a simple memory was rolling off my body in waves.

"But…" I stopped. I couldn't go on. I could remember the sound of James' nails grating viciously against the frozen window. I could remember the look in my mom's green eyes when she saw him breaking his way through the glass of our window. My dad's chocking sounds as he was gagged by his own blood…

"Edward?" she whispered.

I shook my head. "Sorry," I whispered, and I fucking cursed myself when I heard my voice crack.

I'm such a girl, I told myself scornfully.

"You don't have to continue," she told me.

I shook my head. She wanted to know, and she had a right to know. Besides, the more I told her about myself, the more I'd learn from her later.

"James came through our window. Well, not really came. He more or less broke his body through the glass."

She shivered.

"He killed them," I whispered, engulfed in the smell of newly poured blood, the sound of perfect, unscathed flesh being tarred by a sharp knife he had stashed away in his jacket. "My father was first. My mom tried, but…" I stared at the grass, watching as the light from the moon caressed it. "I was left. James took me. I had to keep myself alive, because James wouldn't even feed me."

I felt her fingers on my arm that I hadn't even realized had swooped around her waist tightly.

"I had to do bad things," I whispered, staring at the ground that, in this lighting, looked black and white. Maybe it had turned that way because of my memories. We were traveling backwards, which was a thing I did not want to fucking do. "I had to steal, and hurt people to just live, and…I know my parents would fucking hate me." I felt something warm trailing down my cheek, and I didn't even have enough strength to move my fucking hand and wipe it.

"They'd hate me, Bella. They saw what I did. I didn't even try and help when James hurt them! I just sat there like a fucking…" I shook my head. "So what I'm saying, or trying to get into your thick fucking head, is that I'm not good! Not for my parents, not for you, not even for a goddamn rat!"

She turned and stared at me, her eyes wide.

I could feel the tears splaying down my cheeks, but I didn't care.

"Go home! Get out of here because…you don't belong here! You belong with the big houses, the good food, and…the good guys that would line up for someone like you. Because you…you're like, fucking amazing. I'd give anything to be able to be with you forever, but I just can't.

"I might hurt you. I hurt too many people. You're still here because of me!" The tears stopped as anger took a step to the front of my mind, standing tall and proud, ready to take the stage. "Go home!" I yelled again, except it was so loude that she cringed away from me.

I took deep, heaving breaths as I tried to calm down.

Bella dislodged my hand from around her waist and stood, standing over me, glaring down at me.

"You…you fucking prick!" she screamed, pointing a finger down at me.

My mouth fell open.

"You asshole! What the hell…" She groaned and started pacing back and forth across the tiny, grass covered area. "Don't you get it?" she hissed, seething.

I just stared at her.

"I…hate you!"

My eyes widened and I think my heart turned into the fucking Titanic.

"I hate you for making me feel like this." She gestured to herself, finally stopping from her angry strides back and forth. "I don't care that you're messed, because I am, too!" Tears rolled down her cheeks. "My parents weren't the happy couple that laughed and sang around campfires!"

I stared at her.

"My parents are…assholes!" She coughed back tears, trying to stay strong. "They fight and scream and send me off to go to piano lessons because they don't want to be bothered with me! At least you had someone to look up to who actually wanted you!" she cried as she started sobbing.

"What do you mean, 'That actually wanted you'?" I asked.

She sniffled, sitting on the ground and wrapping her arms around her calves.

"I mean, you had someone to look up to. I never had anyone until now." Her green eyes met mine, and they were filled to the brim with tears. "I looked up to you, but…apparently you don't want me around, so…"

I held back the urge to gasp. I kneeled in front of her and placed my palms on her knees.

"You don't honestly think I wouldn't want you, do you?" I whispered intensely, watching as the blush I loved so much colored her cheeks.

"I do think that," she whispered in a shaky voice.

I rolled my eyes. "You're a fucking idiot! Did you not listen to anything I just said! I want you, but you can do way better!"

Her brow furrowed as she looked at her hands.

"I'm not your best choice," I said miserably.

"No, you're not," she said. "But, you're the choice I choose. I wouldn't want anything more, or anything less. I want you, and only you."

Bella POV

He stared at me in wonderment. I felt his breath on my face. It was warm, and made me shiver in blissful pleasure.

"You want me?" he whispered, moving his face closer so that our lips were barely grazing each others.

I nodded, and the movement made our lips slide across each others. I took in a sharp intake of breath. He did, too. I felt his hand slide up to my neck as he put a gentle but firm hand over it. I knew what was coming. I had never kissed a boy before. I was glad that it was this boy doing it.

Our mouths were both open, and I could feel his breath inside my mouth, and it felt like ripping your skin off and jumping off a never-ending cliff. It was totally, and utterly blissful. There were no other words.

His eyes stared directly into mine, and he seemed to be having a self conflict with himself.

"Do you want me?" I whispered breathily, my head stuck in the clouds.

He gulped. "Yes."

I scooted closer, biting my lip. "Then prove it," I breathed across his face.

His breathing stopped and the hand on my neck tightened.

I shut my eyes as he did his, then felt an electric shock run from my lips, to the tips of my hairs, to the tips of my toes. His lips were warm as they wrapped around my bottom lip, and mine went around his top.

Total. Bliss.

I moved my lips against his in synchronization, as if we had rehearsed or something. I guess kissing was just natural. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer. He grunted as I leaned into him fully, and I felt his mouth open. His tongue was smooth as it traveled across my bottom lip, and I happily granted him access. I opened my mouth, too, and now, we were basically making out. I trailed my fingers up his chest and yanked at the sides of his jacket, pulling him against me, mashing my breasts against his chest.

He groaned again, and I could feel something…else between us. I had had the customary health class every teen girl who attended Forks High School got. They told us about boys, and what happens when they got… "in the mood".

I shivered in pleasure.

However, it wasn't the same as feeling it jutting into your stomach.

He lowered me to the ground, and I followed suit. He was hovering over me, his hands on either side of my face so he wouldn't press too much of his weight on me.

I tangled my fingers in his hair. It was the first time I had ever felt his hair before, and it felt like down feathers. It was so soft and long, dangling in his eyes. He might of thought of himself as a monster, but he looked like an angel designed by the devil to me.

He kissed my jaw, then stopped at the corner of my mouth.

"We have to stop," he whispered, his breaths staggering.

"Why?" I breathed, tracing my finger along his back.

He groaned. "Because…I don't want you to get fucking impregnated."

Blunt. Very Edward.

I looked at him, and his mouth was open, panting hot breath across my face. I pouted a bit as he stared down at me.

He grinned, then kissed my forehead. "Really, this isn't the place for such things," he laughed.

I looked around, remembering we were under a tree on the dirt covered ground.

"Right," I agreed.

He stood up, holding his hand out to me.

I took it and brushed the dirt covered grass off my butt.

Very hot, Bella, I mentally scolded myself.

"Want to go?" he asked, staring through the trees at the moon as it got bigger and bigger.

Everything that had happened today came rushing into my brain. The fight, the truth, the pain, the sorrow, the lust. My stomach did flips when I remembered what had just happened. It was what I had always imagined my first kiss to be like. I always wanted one of those kisses where your foot goes in the air, and your heart totally stops, and nothing but his lips and yours is important. It was what I always wanted, and the only person that could give me what I wanted - what I needed - was Edward.

I looked back up at Edward, and he was staring down at me, raising an eyebrow, waiting for my answer.

"Oh, right," I said embarrassedly. "Yeah, let's go back."

"All right," he muttered. He turned, but I grabbed his arm.

"Wait," I said.

He just stared down at me.

I put my lips against his lightly, sighing in contentment as I got the jittery feeling in me again. I pulled back, and he grinned at me.

"What was that for?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I was testing something that you didn't believe was possible."

He was silent.

"You said that other guys could be better for me - could give me what I needed, right?"

He nodded hesitantly.

"Well, you were wrong. I don't think anyone can give me that." I gestured to our lips.

"So are you trying to say I'm a good kisser?" he asked, smirking.

I blushed. "Don't get all cocky."

He laughed then rested his arm over my shoulders, pulling me to his bike.

"Let's get back," he sighed.

Edward POV

As I crawled into the tiny basement window, I heard Bella yawning. I looked up at her once I landed back into the basement. She was swaying, her heavy eyelids drooping.

"Tired?" I whispered so James wouldn't hear. However, he was probably passed out from drinking so much anyway, so…

She nodded and crawled ungracefully through the window. She didn't set her feet down to catch herself, and started falling from the window with a whispered, high pitched, "Eep!" Whatever "eep" meant.

I held my arms out just in time as she fell into them, her head bobbing on her neck. She looked around, dazed and disoriented.

"What happened…?" she slurred, her eyes fighting to stay open.

I shook my head, laughing. "You fell."

"Oh." She stared at me, her head falling over. "I'm tired," she whispered.

"I can tell."

She shut her eyes, leaning her head on my shoulder.

I walked over to the corner where she usually slept, and sat. I kept her in my lap, deciding that I could stay. James probably knew about Bella and I from before. Just as I remembered before, the gash on my arm started to sting.

"Ugh," I groaned quietly. I saw the little slivers of glass still inside.

Bella stirred in my arms, sighing into my neck, making me shiver.

I gently set Bella down on the floor where the pillow and blanket still lay. I walked up the stairs and to the bathroom. I had to take care of this bloody mess. I turned on the bathroom light, and it was like one of those lights they shined on you when you were being questioned in prison. It buzzed loudly, reverberating through my ears annoyingly. I looked in the mirror at myself, and saw blood and black and blues on my face.

"Shit," I cursed quietly.

I poked the tender skin, hissing as it stung. I grabbed the tweezers from the medicine cabinet and began my scavenge for glass in my forearm. I pulled piece after piece. It was fucking never-ending.

I heard the bathroom door slowly creak open and thought it was Bella.

It sure as hell wasn't.

"Edward…" James slurred as he stumbled drunkenly into the bathroom.

I glared at him icily. My jaw was taught, the tweezers hovering above my arm.

"Get the fuck out," I spat.

He frowned and fell backwards into the tub, his head clanking against the grimy wall.

"Edward, you can't talk to your father like that," he said, shaking his head.

I dropped the tweezers, the sound of it hitting the porcelain sink was like thunder in the silent room. I started to shake very visibly, getting more pissed off by the second. I turned around swiftly.

He flinched at my expression.

"You, you crazy fuck, are not my fucking father," I growled. "You ruined my life, and you don't even care." I could feel the tears stinging my eyes, but I forced them to stay back. I would not cry in front of this asshole.

"I didn't ruin your life," he slurred. "I gave you something you would've never gotten without me."

I chuckled humorously. "And what would that be?" I asked, humoring him.

"That Bella girl."

The scowl slipped from my face. I turned back to the sink and continued cleaning out my wound.

"Yeah?" I hissed.

"Yes."

"No." I shook my head. "You also gave me these." I turned, lifting my shirt up. His eyes stared at my shredded chest, but they didn't widened like I hoped they would. I wanted him to feel guilty.

He shrugged. "You're alive, aren't you?"

I took a long, deep breath. "You don't get it, you psychopath. This is the real world. You can't steal people when you feel like it."

He was silent.

"You can't ruin a little kids world because you selfishly, and crazily killed his parents. I'd rather die a fiery, painful death rather than be here with you. I'd take anything."

"I have a theory," he said, ignoring everything I had just said.

I ignored him now and wiped the blood that oozed from the cut off my arm.

"I think it was fate that I kidnapped you and her."

"I don't think it was fate. I think it was your crazy-ass mind."

He continued, unperturbed by my words. "I'm sure if I didn't kidnap you, I would've kidnapped some other kid. I then would have kidnapped Bella."

I stared at him through the mirror, and he was staring at a dark beer stain on his shirt.

"If it wasn't you that got taken, do you think whoever it was would've been as kind as you are to Bella?" he asked. "Even though I hate that you're so kind to her," he seethed.

I began stitching my wound, waiting for him to continue. Stitching my wounds was something I had taught myself how to do. It was an essential part of living here. I winced as the skin was tugged by the thread.

So fucking gross.

"Would you want some other guy with her?"

I slammed my fist against the sink and it shook.

"No!" I roared. "I'd rather you not hurt anyone's lives! Leave everyone the fuck alone!"

He pursed his lips, then whispered, "No."

I turned to him again, my eyes in slits. "Why. The. Fuck. Not?"

"I just can't."

"Well I just can't let you do this anymore. Let her go home, James," I ordered.

"No, it's too late now. I'll go to jail." He smirked at me. "And so will you."

My eyes widened. "Why would I go to jail? I didn't do anything."

He shook his head. "Doesn't matter, kid. You're turning eighteen next week. You know what that means?"

I shook my head.

"It means you're an adult, and you're not a minor. They may have let you slide on this before, but not now. You're a teenage boy with a record, living with me. Why would they believe you?"

I shook my head in disbelief. "Bella would explain-"

"Why would they believe her? She's been missing for three days. They'd think she's gone mental." He stood from the tub and stood in front of me. "You're in the same predicament as me now, kid. Whatever happens to me, happens to you."

I clenched my fists angrily.

"So you set her free, and your freedom is down the drain. Do you want that?"

I stared at the cracked, dirt covered tile.

He was right. I wasn't going to be a kid anymore. It was either set Bella free and I went to jail, or let her stay selfishly, and let her continue to get beaten.

"You choose," he whispered, then walked from the room.