Chapter 9 (Edward's Point of View)

I quickly became engrossed in the textbooks in front me as I took to memorizing symptoms of this disorder and symptoms of that disorder. It wasn't long after I had filled out my 100th note card it seemed that Esme knocked gently on my bedroom door breaking me from my studies.

"I'm sorry to disturb you sweetie but Bella will probably be out in a few minutes." She came in and gave me a motherly hug and turned to walk back out. "I've noticed that Bella has become quite attached to you in such a short amount of time. She trusts you a lot." She made a note of the recent growth in my and Bella's relationship. I just nodded my head and stood up from my chair following her out the door.

"I just want her to know that I'm there for her is all." Esme gave me that knowing motherly look and eyed me carefully before speaking her next words.

"Edward, as your mother I feel obligated to tell you that I'm excited for the fact that you have found someone who has captured a piece of your heart. However as someone who dearly loves Bella, she needs time. She's in no mental state right no to be jumping into anything like this." She touched her hand gently to my cheek.

"I don't know what you're talking about mom. She's Emmett's little sister and I just want to be there for her." Where was she suddenly getting these ideas? Bella has captured a piece of my heart? What was that? I shook my head at her. It was then that my ears picked up the faint sound of someone crying. I immediately knew who it was and moved through the doorway and into Bella's room. I found Charlie and Emmett standing in front of the door with their own masks of pain.

"What do we do? Do we go in?" Emmett asked frantically chewing on his thumbnail as he listened to his sister sob. Charlie shook his head and looked down.

"I don't know Emmett, I wish I did but I've never been in this situation before. I don't want to startle her." I came up behind them and patted Emmett on the back.

"She needs you. She needs your comfort and she needs to know that she's loved." I assured them. Emmett nodded his head and moved his hand to the doorknob giving it a slight twist and gently pushing the door open. The sight before me broke my heart. Bella was curled up in a tight ball with her back against the vanity. She had tearstains on her cheeks and her body racked with sobs. She looked so helpless; so fragile. Emmett and I made our way closer to her while Charlie stayed back at the door too afraid that he'd hurt his daughter even more. I sat down next to her and wrapped my arm around her shoulders giving her any comfort I could manage. Emmett sat on her other side and placed his hand over hers.

"I'm sorry. I…don't know what came over me…I just had to let it out." She managed to choke out in between her sobs. I felt my heart twinge again as I noted her broken voice. More tears trekked their way down her cheeks as she continued to mutter incoherently.

"Bellsy, it's okay to cry. You don't need to be the strong one anymore. Lean on us for a little while and be the kid that you so deserve to be." Emmett was the first to break the silence. His voice was gentle and soft; barely above a whisper.

"Bells…please just come to us when you need something. Let me be the father I should have been to you all those years ago." Charlie finally made his presence known in the room. His voice cracked with the raw emotion as he took in the scene of his teenage daughter sobbing to herself in misery.

"Dad…please don't blame yourself for this. It's not your fault. If it's anyone's fault…it's mine." My body tensed up as Bella blamed this on herself. This was anything but her fault. It was that asshole Phil's fault. Ever bit of grief she was experiencing and every bit she was going to experience was his entire fault. I closed my eyes and sucked in a deep breath not wanting to scare Bella away with my sudden angered expression.

"Don't you ever say that again, you hear me? This was not your fault. You are the last person anyone would blame for this." Charlie looked like he was about to break into a million pieces. He was so afraid to touch Bella for fear she would cower away from him. If I ever saw this Phil person I was going to kill him no matter what punishment I would pay for it.

"He's taken everything from me. What more do I have to give? He ruined me." Any sense of calm I had flitted away at those very words. I felt my rage overpower me and if it hadn't been for the fragile girl sitting in my arms I would've run off in search of the pig who did this to her.

"You are in no way ruined Isabella Swan. That scumbag of a man has not ruined you in any way. He may have hurt you physically and somewhat emotionally at the moment but he has not ruined you any way. You are still a beloved daughter and sister and friend." I reassured her that she was not ruined. She could never be ruined, at least not to me.

"Edward is right Bellsy. Nothing that fleabag of a man did to you could ruin you. The bruises will fade and eventually the memories will become less vivid and nothing will tie you to him ever again." Emmett said the most serious and profound thing I had ever heard him say in the entire time that I have known him. I stared at him flabbergasted. He noted my stare and shrugged his shoulders lightly before turning back to Bella. No one spoke after that comment. We all sat in a somewhat comfortable silence. Charlie still had tears running down his face as did Bella but at least her sobs had quieted down some. The hand she had fisted against my shirt was beginning to slacken and I noticed her eyelids had become droopier than before.

"Bella, we should probably move you back into the bed so that you can rest." I felt bad for having to bring her out of the calm stupor she had fallen into but all three of them agreed with my suggest. I removed my arm from around the back of her head and all three of us stood up. Emmett carefully maneuvered his arms underneath his sister and hoisted her up into his outrageously large arms. I noticed as her eyes shut tight and her teeth began to chew on her bottom lip no doubt piercing the sensitive skin. 'She has beautiful lips' was the thought that came to my head. Where in heaven's name did that come from? I shook my head slightly to clear to odd thoughts that had begun to cloud my head. Emmett placed her down on the bed gently before her dad stepped in and tucked her in like you would a little girl. I felt a little guilty for intruding on this personal family moment but something in me would not allow me to leave.

"I love you more than anything in this world. Sleep sweetie so that you can heal and we can put this all behind us." Her dad placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and tucked her in tighter before going to stand by the doorway giving Emmett a minute to say good night.

"Bellsy, I know I've been a bit of a sap here lately but I want you to know that I am still your macho big older brother and that no matter what happens you can come to me for anything…well except any of that lady stuff…"

"Emmett…" Charlie warned.

"My point was that I love you Bells. You're my little sister and I would do anything for you." It was then Emmett decided to take his leave as he too placed a kiss on her forehead and then both father and brother exited the room.

"I'll be right across the hall Bella if you need anything. Do not hesitate to come and get one of us. We are more than willing to do anything for you." As I finished my statement I noticed the panic look that overtook her features. Before I could say anymore Bella's small musical voice piped in. I didn't want to leave but I didn't want to scare her by staying and playing creepy stalker. I turned on my heel and began to walk out the bedroom door.

"Edward…" she whispered ever so quietly. I almost missed when she called my name. "Edward, please don't leave. I don't want the nightmares to come." She was pleading me with her eyes. Her lower lip was curled out and tears had welled into her eyes. I couldn't help but comply with her request.

"Of course Bella. Anything you need I will be happy to oblige." I climbed into the bed and again gave her a decent amount of space so as not to scare her into a panic attack. Her worried face relaxed a bit and a gentle smile graced her face. I turned onto my side so I could continue to look at her as she fell asleep.

"Thank you Edward." She had barely managed to whisper out. I softly began to hum the melody I had written not but a day ago. It wasn't long before her beautiful chocolate eyes took their rest for the night. I stayed in bed a little bit longer just to make sure that she would not wake up. It was still too early and I wasn't feeling very tired. I gently removed myself from the bed being careful not to disturb her as much as possible. I wanted to go and find Emmett and see how he was doing. I walked down the hallway and stopped in front of his door. It was like a moment of déjà vu as I heard Emmett sobbing behind his closed bedroom door. I carefully knocked and grasped the handle before turning it and pushing it open.

"Emmett?" I said hesitantly.

"Sorry man, I just…it's so hard seeing her like that. I feel like I've just failed her as a brother." He sighed into his hands as he rubbed his face wiping away a few stray tears. I had never seen Emmett cry before this moment. He was always the jokester; the one we could rely on to be the comic relief.

"Emmett, you didn't know. You couldn't have known. If she hadn't managed to get away you probably still wouldn't have known what was going on. You can't help what you don't know." Emmett stood up and began pacing the floor of his room.

"That's just it Edward. I should've suspected something was up. Why wouldn't Bella want anything to do with us? I'm her brother and dad…how could she not want anything to do with dad!" He was getting more agitated the more he thought about it. If he didn't quit pacing he was going to form a hole in the carpe and Esme would have his head on a platter.

"Emmett you didn't know." I wanted to emphasize that point as much as possible but it didn't seem to be getting through that thick skull of his. He continued pacing in front of me gnawing down on his already too short fingernails.

"I should have known!" He startled me with his booming voice. "I should've have guessed that something was wrong. I should have been more persistent with my phone calls. Instead of spending all that time gallivanting off with the group or pursuing Rosie, not that I don't love her to death, but if I had maybe convinced Charlie to let me go visit Bella…" He trailed off and sat down on the bed with his head in his hands.

"Emmett, listen to me…" when he didn't look up at me I forced him to "There is nothing that you could have done! Neither you nor Charlie knew what was going nor could you have possibly found out. I may not know the full situation or anything but I do know that Bella was probably not allowed to tell you what was going on. There was nothing you could do. Believe me when I say that." I stared at Emmett and he nodded his head.

"If I ever see that bastard again…I don't think there are enough cops in this world who could pry me off of him and stop me from inflicting the pain that he deserves." Emmett's face turned menacing as he thought about everything he wanted to do to Phil.

"You and me both bro, you and me both." I whispered clapping him on the back.

"You and Bella seem awfully close now. I'm surprised she's not more anxious around you like she is Carlisle." Emmett noted.

"Yeah I don't know why but she feels somewhat comfortable with me. I'm not going to complain." I felt a small smile tug at my lips as I thought about just how comfortable Bella felt with me. I was about to open my mouth to say something when a blood-curdling scream filled the house. Emmett and I sprinted from his room and came to a halt in front of the thrashing Bella. Charlie, Carlisle, Esme, and Alice along with Jasper were not far behind us and before my mind knew what it was doing I ran into Bella's room and cradled her thrashing form to my chest.

"Bella, please wake up. It's just a nightmare. I'm sorry that I left you." I whispered into her ear. Her body visibly relaxed and I pushed a stray lock of hair from her face. Her eyes fluttered open and I was lost in the pool of her beautiful chocolate brown eyes. For that second we were lost in each other and the world around us had faded. She quickly snapped out of it and her eyes frantically began searching for someone.

"Where's my dad?" Her voice was panicked and trembled as her eyes scan what she could see of the room.

"Bells, I'm right here." He came up to the other side of the bed and climbed in next to her. She immediately let go of me for which I was sad at the loss of the warm body and climbed into her dads lap hugging him to her tightly.

"I thought he killed you dad. It was so real. I thought that Phil had killed you." She began to sob quietly against her dad's shoulder as he soothed her.

"I'm never going anywhere Bells. I'm always going to be right here." He cooed. She finally began to calm down a bit after a few minutes and her grip on her father began to slacken.

"Bella, would you mind if I did a brief check up just to ensure that things are healing well? It would make me feel better." Carlisle stepped from his place by Esme's side and walked to the bed where I sat. She nodded her head and let go of Charlie completely. Carlisle gave her a loving smile before checking on her taped up ribs and her braced wrist. He nodded his head and smiled gently down on her. "Everything is looking fantastic Bella. You should be healed up in no time." He turned and went back to embracing Esme from behind.

"I'm so sorry for screaming like that everyone." Bella whispered as she hung her head and began to fiddle with the sheets.

"It's okay Bella, really, we understand." Esme piped in. Bella's eyes scanned the room and landed on the unfamiliar face that had followed the noise minutes ago.

"Who is he?" She whispered to me.

"That's Jasper, Alice's boyfriend. You'll get to know him in due time." She nodded her head and buried herself into Charlie's embrace yet again.

"Let's let Bella get some rest everyone." I stood up from the bed allowing Charlie and Bella to talk about things. "If you need anything just yell and we'll be more than happy to oblige." I exited the room along with the rest of my family and shut the door quietly sighing when I felt my heart twinge at the pain that I had seen on Bella's face.


A/N: I'm feeling like I may go ahead and rewrite this chapter so opinions on what you think would be greatly appreciated. Again this is pretty much a filler chapter but soon enough things will be happening that may leave you feeling shocked. I've already got the next few chapters written so things will begin to pick up soon, I promise. Also, I know I say this every time but thank you so much to those of you who have added me to a favorite's or alert's list. My inbox has been full of alerts that I've been added and it's fantastic! I love it! Thank you also goes out to those of you who reviewed and told me what you think! It rocks my world...for real! I hope that you enjoy this chapter and if you didn't, let me know! Please review!

~Jess