Disclaimer: All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer, I am simply borrowing them to tell a story.

We are back! This used to be part of Chapter 6 but I decided to add some extra stuff that will make things extra fluffy in the future.

THINGS GET A BIT NASTY AT THE END SO… Warning about that but this is a mature story for that particular reason. I really do want you to leave a review on all this by the way, it would be greatly appreciated.

Chapter 7

Bella

November 3, 2013

We head home late in the night after having dinner inside of the house and continue telling them all about Bella Cullen's fake travels and blog and everything that is meant to be in my file.

"I'm sorry if I mentioned the job thing. I didn't mean to assume you would allow it. I only said it in case you did. So it wouldn't seem contradictory if I started working after I said I wanted to take a break." I apologize to Edward as he pulls out of the driveway.

"It's fine, Isabella. You didn't exactly say that you were going to start working right away."

"But…" I hesitate, I really dislike when he calls me Isabella, I almost feel like he is mad at me, "Have you thought about it?"

He breathes deeply and says nothing for a minute and I consider the subject changed before he finally speaks, "I have. What you say is true, the trial could go on for a while and you are used to better things. While I do think you should simply be more conscious of your spending habits," Edward teases, "I do believe you have your new identity in place. I don't see why you couldn't get a small job. However, I would have to go with you, I can't just leave you alone for hours at a time. You must also know that you don't have to do this, if the money ran out, Charlie would take care of you. He wouldn't leave you alone. Your situation is unique, you have someone on the outside who will continue to support you."

I nod my head but refuse to take it back. I need to be able to have some sort of freedom and a peace of mind that I can live a little bit like I used to back home. Then I picture Edward with a fast food chain uniform and keep it together trying my hardest not to laugh as I continue to think of all the different uniforms of a mall job. Then I remember Rosalie's offer, "We could take your sister-in-law's offer. Work with them." I know it's forward of me to ask and to even accept the work offer from them, but surely there can't be a problem that Edward can draw up from that. It is already established that I have my new identity in place, I spent the whole day talking and answering all the questions that I was asked. I didn't stutter at least once, he didn't even openly protest when Rosalie invited us to Grizzel tomorrow, surely that is a sign that he is also comfortable with me being around.

"We will see how things go tomorrow."

I nod my head, "thank you, Edward. This really does mean alot to me." I say nothing for the remainder of the way, happy with the idea that I could finally be leaving the house for periods at a time. To work in a club nonetheless. The whole idea of this job has me giddy. When we do reach home, however, I remember something that Edward said during lunch.

"Can I ask you a question?" I face him as he unlocks the front door and we head inside, turning on the hallway lights.

"You already did" Edward smiles at himself and heads to the kitchen as I follow.

"Okay, fine, another one." I roll my eyes at him and he places a Tupperware of leftovers in the fridge. "Feel free to not answer. I understand that this will be one of those things that fall under the category of questions you can't answer but...You said that your 'honorable discharge' was permanent. What does that mean exactly?"

"That I won't be going back."

"In real-life? As in this is your last case?" I turn red at this question, knowing that this is personal but unable to stay quiet.

"Yes, Isabella. You're my last case." He pours himself a glass of water and leans against the counter.

"But... You're so young. You have so much ahead of you." I dive headfirst into my questions.

"My last case was a long one. Before that, I had a series of short cases since I was 19. During the last case, I realized that this is something that I didn't want to do for the rest of my life." He seems to struggle for words. "I realized during my last case that the only thing people wished was that if only they could have their old life back, join their loved ones, everything would be worth it but they couldn't. This job meant that I was willingly staying away from what they wish they had and I decided that I didn't want to do that anymore. I wanted to stop taking it all for granted. I had a privilege that they didn't."

"So why did you take my case?" Was he forced into it?

"I took it as my last case. My boss brought it up to me saying that a younger face would make it easier for you to stay concealed and I agreed. In the moment I knew that this could also take years when I had already spoken to them about leaving the job but for some reason, I couldn't just leave. Back in Washington when we were informed that we would be coming to Chicago, it was a surprise but it also seemed like I had made the right choice by taking the case. Sure it would involve bringing you into my personal life but it would also make it easier for me to adjust and get my life back on track to what I left before. Well, in a way."

"So what does that mean for me?" I find that I ask this a lot, does this make me selfish? Here he is, opening up about all this and I can't help but ask about myself.

"What do you mean?" He frowns and does something I haven't seen him do before, he sits on the counter.

"Well, you told them that this is permanent, your stay I mean and surely they are assuming I will stay here with you as well. What will you tell them? Your family I mean."

"Oh. Well, we are young, young people get divorced often. We will simply tell them that we realized we wanted different things and ended things amicably. "

There is so much I want to say about that but none of them really make sense for me to ask. What he says is true, if this is his last case, then that means that only I will have to leave and to his family, this was all the truth. We really were married and things simply didn't work out. He is here under his real name so that means this will all probably remain on record, well, on the public record. I struggle for words, he opened up to me so surely we are speaking freely about this without filters.

"So… What I do from now until the end, they will remember it? They will never know the truth?"

"I doubt it would go well for anyone if they found out the truth. Once this is all over, your life won't be in danger, but I don't know how my family would react to this part of my life. Rather how my parents would react. Emmett wouldn't believe it," He laughs, "But my parents had this idea of me that suddenly wasn't true anymore. So everything that we do, to them, will always be the truth."

I nod, letting it all sink in. I sit on the opposite side of the counter and look at him curiously. "You must be excited for all of this to end then, to start your life."

He laughs yet again, "I'm already starting it."

"But it's fake," I argue and point at everything around us.

"No, the relationship is. This was my house."

I balk, "What are you serious?"

"Yes. I have always been away throughout all of this time so my house has been used as a safe house but when we got sent here, they decided to use my house one last time. I guess it didn't make much sense for them to set up another house and keep this one running at the same time. They tend not to place two cases in the same city."

I think of the bedroom, "So you nearly let me get rid of furniture? I painted the walls and I'm staying in the room that I will assume is yours because let's face it, it's the bigger of the two."

He shakes his head, "the furniture isn't mine, that's still part of the story, but the house has been remodeled over and over, I don't really mind. As for the room, I've never really picked a room in the house. When I bought this, I wasn't really here long enough to set up a bedroom, I stayed on a sofa in the living room. A pull-out couch, before I had to leave."

"Oh… Well, you could have the room if you wanted it. I feel bad about the walls thing now."

"Don't. This is a case, whatever you did to the house would be fixed at the end before it is returned to me so… Paint to your heart's desire."

I laugh, "thanks, I'll keep that bit in mind. So everything you buy from now on you get to keep or how does that work? Anything really, throughout the years surely you've had a lot more things than a simple set of luggage with you."

He breathes deeply, "Well a lot of it is in storage but it's not much. Clothes mainly but buying unnecessary things were just that, unnecessary so there won't be much to move in the end. Things from my old life are kept in my parent's house, there was no sense in moving those at all. As for buying, well I'm in this case using my own name and have access to my old life, so anything bought is mine to keep. At first, I questioned why my superiors did things the way that they did but the way they must see it is that in your situation, I can keep you safer this way. No one would question the marriage in this city."

So I am not the only one that has thoughts as to why they sent Edward and me here with his family and all of his old life already in place. Especially now that I find out that they have even sent us to his actual house, but what he says makes sense, the story seems more realistic in this way. I'm a new bride who has move to her husband's hometown and his family has welcomed us with open arms. Heck, with a number of things that have been fabricated for this case, even Alice would question of my old life was even real.

"I'll try to leave a good memory of me behind," I inform Edward, "So your family won't bitterly look back into this, even though they don't seem like the type that would but if what you say about Emmett is true. I really want to leave a good impression. Even if Bella Cullen is fake it would hurt if I left a negative impact like that."

He smiles, "That would make things easier."

"Then we have a deal, I will be the damn best wife in everyone's eyes, darling."

He cringes, "Darling?"

"I have never been married, I have no clue what are some good nicknames. 'Darling' does sound weird but I will work on it."

"As long as it's not Ed or Eddie, you go ahead and say what you want," He hops from the counter, says goodnight and heads upstairs to his room.

As I get ready for bed I think of things that I would want them to remember without wanting to over do things. I don't want to be fake and after staying awake for hours I realize that I am over thinking things. I have to simply be myself and treat Edward as I would a boyfriend. I think back to Alice and realize she's right, I've never really had a boyfriend. When I was with Jacob, things were somewhat awkward, like holding hands and hugging were things we used to do growing up but when it came to kissing and beyond that it just felt wrong. I don't expect to be kissing Edward at all but surely it would be weird if throughout all the time that I was here and supposedly married to Edward his family never saw us kiss. So surely that would happen at one point or another. I suddenly grow worried and as I flip in my bed and try not to think about the thoughts Edward could have when that moment arrived. I guess I will simply try to go with what seems the most natural and not be mentally screaming about the awkwardness that is surely going to happen.

When I finally go to sleep, I definitely don't think about kissing Edward. Not even once.

Riley POV

I drag what is left of Marshall's body out of the room as Victoria comes in, "Really, Riley. I never would've thought that you had the stomach to do this. I must say, I am impressed." Victoria stares at me, bites her lip and smiles. "How did you do it? Did he beg?"

I start to clean up the mess as I lick my lips once, "I wish you would've heard it. You would've loved it. After you left I went outside to get his tools and well… He screamed as if he was on a roller coaster, Vick." I laugh before continuing. "Things got pretty gruesome but surprisingly easy after that." I scrub the floor harder as I continue to tell Vicky the details. "I poured of James dissolvent that he used on that Morgan girl and I was surprised at how quickly it started to work. Sadly Marshall wasn't as impressed, he passed out soon after I started. He would wake up once in awhile and scream. You should've been here, Vick."

"You do know that he is going to be so angry with you after this?" Victoria places a hand on my shoulder and leans into me as I drop the broom. She looks down at the blurred stain on the floor and then whispers in my ear, "He is going to be so jealous."

"About what?" He can't be jealous about Marshall, he has done this thing before, I look into Victoria's eyes as she leans in, her bright red lips an inch from my own, as I lean in closer to close the gap between us she pulls back.

"Get rid of his body before he smells, and I'll tell you everything he will be jealous about." Victoria turns around and leaves.

I groan at her receding form and hurry as I put the remains in the bins in the back of the truck.

I drive for hours, as far away as I dare go with the body in the back. Before the sun rises, I find a spot deep in the woods and start to drag the remains further into the forest and close to a trail. I need time to get away from the body but leave it close enough for someone to eventually find. We wouldn't be sending a message if they didn't find him.

I hear the howl of a wolf and smile, knowing that they will take care of any evidence left behind. There shouldn't, he has taught us well. I removed identifying remains to slow down the identity process just like we were taught. Once I lay down his body, I start walking back to the car, anxious to head back. Anxious to see what Victoria has to say.

Next chapter we meet everyone at Grizzel!

Please leave your thoughts in the review section, it will only take a minute or less for you to tell me things you wish were different, thoughts as to what might happen or what you wish will happen between them. I am always open to suggestions.

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-Luna Riley