Disclaimer: Not mine. Go figure.

Ok, so here's the deal – I'm going out of town on Saturday, and I WILL NOT have Chapter 8 done by then. Chapter 8 is only half way through and I won't finish by then cause I have a lot to do. I figured I'd give you guys Chapter 7 before I went home. (Yes, home. My mom and I moved and we're visiting home for Thanksgiving break.) I won't be back for about a week and a half, so I can't promise when the next chapter will be up. But please enjoy Chapter 7.

Chapter 7
Depression

I lay there, on the side of her bed, watching her sleep. Carlisle came in at some point, smiling at me before leaving. She stirred slightly in her sleep, turning over.

"No, Nathan," she murmured, still sleeping. "Leave me alone. Go away."

I stroked the side of her face, trying to calm her. Her expression was worried. "No," she said again. "No, leave Edward alone." Her voice was growing louder now. She started thrashing in my arms. I tightened my grip on her. She shot up in bed, awake and screaming.

"Sh, sh, Bella," I whispered in her ear, holding her head against my shoulder and threading my fingers through her hair. "It was just a dream. You're ok."

After a few minutes, she calmed down. I knew better than to ask her about her dream; she would tell me if she felt the need to do so. Eventually, she pushed me away and started to get out of bed.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" I asked.

"Carlisle said I could leave today," she replied.

"Yes, but he didn't specify when today you could leave," I countered.

"I don't particularly care. I need to go," she responded, opening drawers, looking for her clothes so she could get out of her hospital gown.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" I asked curiously.

She glanced at the clock on the bedside table. "Because I'm already late for work."

"Work?" I asked, unknowingly letting disgust into my tone. "Why do you work?"

"Because Edward," she replied scathingly. "Not all of us have a rich father. If I don't get my car payment made within a week, they're going to come repo my car."

A small grin made it's way to my face. "That being said, I'm assuming you don't have your truck anymore."

"Oh God, no. It died a week after you left. It was horrible because I didn't get my car til I started college. Half my senior year I had to hitch rides with Angela. That wasn't so bad, but so often she had to stay after school and I had to get a ride with Mike or Tyler. That was so annoying."

My eyes narrowed as she mentioned the two boys that had been lusting after her since she started school. "But then I got those motorcycle's and Jake helped me fix 'em up. Much to Charlie's dismay, I took to riding it to school."

I growled. "Yourode a motorcycle while you were human? While you were an accident prone human?"

She nodded. "Mmhmm." As though this was no big deal.

"You could've killed yourself," I hissed.

She shrugged nonchalantly. "I had hopes," she replied. "It never happened, at least not on the motorcycle." She motioned towards the door before I could respond. "Now get out so I can get dressed."

I complied, walking out and closing the door behind me. A few seconds later, the door opened and she walked slowly out of the room. I held her to my body, my arm around her waist, as we walked out of the hospital. She scanned the parking lot and scowled.

Her phone was in her hands and she held it up to her ear. " Demetri!" she spat. "Where is my car?"

"Come on Bella," he whined. "I don't have a car." I laughed.

She glared at me. "And how am I supposed to get home now?" she asked.

"I'll drop the car off," he sighed.

"Good. Cause that means you're running back."

"What!" he shouted. "Why?"

"Cause the Spyder only sits two people." She clicked the phone shut before he could argue.

"He'll be here in a few minutes," she said, plopping down to sit on the concrete. I sighed and sat down next to her, wrapping my arm around her shoulders. She leaned into me, settling her head on my chest.

.xoxo.

Bella

Showered and dressed for the day, I fiddled through my bathroom cabinet. Withdrawing a bottle just as I did everyday, I gave it a shake and it emitted no sound. I opened the bathroom door and threw the empty prescription bottle to Demetri.

"Run to the pharmacy and pick me up a refill, would you?"

I closed the bathroom door behind me, only to find that Demetri wasn't in the room. Instead, Edward had the bottle in his hand, looking at me curiously. Oh shit. This was not going to be a pretty explanation.

First I tried for innocence. "Oh, sorry Edward," I said. I reached out my hand to grab the bottle from him. "I thought you were Demetri. Here."

My hand swiped at air as he drew his hand back at the last possible second. "Why are you taking anti-depressants, Bella?" he asked suspiciously, glancing down at the label. I didn't bother to ask how he automatically knew they were anti-depressants; he's been through med school twice.

"Please don't make me say it," I begged. "I don't want to say it, and I guarantee you won't be happy with what you hear, so please just give me the bottle."

I reached my hand out again, but this time instead of his hand drawing away, his other hand shot forward, grabbing hold of my wrists and pulling me towards him. I tensed as he blinked in shock, feeling the uneven skin on my forearm. I tried to pull away before he could look down, but he tightened his grip.

He brushed his thumb lightly over the scars present, staring at them in horror. "Bella, you promised," he hissed out, sounding not angry, but scared – horrified.

"Well yeah, but this was after I broke the mother of all promises and got myself killed… sort of… so the cuts didn't really seem like that big of a deal…" I trailed off.

His eyes met mine, shocked. "You did this after you were changed?"

I successfully pulled away from him this time. "You try being told that you're going to live forever alone because the love of your life doesn't love you. I only wanted to be changed to be with you forever; once you left, I had no desire to be a vampire."

He reached forward again and drew me into his arms. My head rested against his chest, and he buried his face in my hair. "I had no idea it would effect you so strongly. I'm so, so sorry, Bella," he whispered into my hair.

"You've already been forgiven," I said softly. "I understand why you left. You did what you thought was right. In the end, that's what everyone does."

"I'm still sorry," he replied.

"Please, just, forget it," I requested. "Just forget you ever saw the pills… or the cuts. Please." I looked away, ashamed of what I had done in my grief. It was so irresponsible of me.

"I can never forget this, Bella," he sighed. "But I won't bother you about it. You dealt with it in your own way."

Edward

Those horrible, horrible marks marring her beautiful skin – I would never forgive myself.

I forced a smile onto my face. "So, what are we doing today?"


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