Thank you all for reading and reviewing :) I know it's been a long time, and I promise I'm trying to keep up with both stories, but I've been sick for a week and I have classes and work and real life has just been really busy. Sorry for the wait. Shield should be updated within the next few days.

Edward

Jasper was waiting outside the door. He'd been outside the door for hours, leaving to check on the rest of the place and then coming back, leaning against the wall and waiting. When I'd hurried into my mother's office, I'd passed him crouching against the wall, his hair fisted in his hands as he berated himself softly. "It's not your fault." I'd murmured, stopping to drop a hand on his shoulder. "You can't blame yourself."

"I knew that I made her uncomfortable. I knew that I scared her. But I kept hanging around her…I thought it would make her more comfortable around me. And then she just…I was too close to her…I freaked her out."

"You were trying to help her, Jasper. You were just trying to get her used to you being around…it's no different than what Emmett did." I'd murmured, squeezing his shoulder gently, and my almost-brother-in-law had looked up with haunted blue eyes.

"I scared her." He'd whispered in the quiet hallway, glancing at the door where we could hear her quiet sobbing. Inside my medical bag, I had a sedative that I'd planned on giving her. According to Esme when she'd asked for me, she was in hysterics, and she needed the rest. Leaving Jasper by the wall, I'd stood, hurrying in to find the girl sobbing into Esme's shoulder, her entire body shaking. Kneeling beside them, I'd given my mother a soft smile as I'd reached for Bella's trembling wrist, sighing when I felt the girl's pulse racing. I had to calm her down. Pricking her quickly with the needle and moving her onto the sofa, my heart had broken when she'd apologized, looking at me sadly through tired, confused eyes, and I'd barely had time to reassure her before she'd fallen asleep.

Jasper had remained outside the door until Bella had woken up, stirring on the couch and staring at me silently. I'd continued staring down at my textbook, something I'd been flipping through just to pass the time, giving her some time to get her bearings. And then she'd admitted that Jasper looked like 'him.' The man who had hurt her. The man that had put those bruises on her neck and had led to her living in a homeless shelter, having panic attacks, and making minimum wage watching kids all day when she should have been in college, getting a degree in whatever she wanted. Jasper looked like the man that had shattered her. No wonder she'd had a panic attack when he'd gotten close.

Bella sat across from me in the dim room, picking at the plate of food that I'd brought her from the kitchen. Esme had headed home for the night, but first she'd asked me to remind Bella that she wanted to see her again sometime this week. She also wanted to put her on anti anxiety medication. It wasn't uncommon, especially with what Bella had been through, but I knew it was still hard for her to be told that she needed more medication.

I was sure that Jasper had heard what she'd said…her explanation about why he'd frightened her so badly and why she never spoke to him. And I was sure that it was killing him. Jasper would literally rather die than hurt her, but there was nothing he could do about her fear of him. It wasn't anything she could control…I just hoped that prolonged exposure to him would help her get used to him, and to help her realize that Jasper was nothing like whatever man had hurt her. For a moment, I almost wished that the guy would show up in the city so that Jasper and Emmett could 'take care' of him, but I also knew that this could be more traumatic than helpful for her.

I glanced up at her, still moving the food around her plate listlessly, her eyes heavy as she stared down at her plate. Moving back to her side, I touched her back, and she glanced up at me. "Think you can eat some more?" I asked gently, rubbing my hand up and down her back, and she nodded, managing another little bite of vegetables. "Would you like to go to bed?" I asked, frowning when she shook her head vigorously, dropping the fork onto the plate. "Are you done?" She nodded, and I took the plate, placing it on the floor by my feet and focused on keeping my arm around her. She didn't seem to mind…on the contrary, she leaned against me, sobbing softly, and I continued rubbing her back.

"I'm sorry." She suddenly whispered, speaking again for the first time since admitting to me that she was afraid of Jasper because he looked like whoever had hurt her.

"You have nothing to be sorry for." I murmured, wondering if she had decided to take me up on my offer to listen if she wanted to talk. I hoped so. I wanted to get to know her, even if it was just by listening to her as a therapy exercise. "No one is upset with you, B. Jasper understands…he was just worried about you. And Rosalie has had to deal with things like this before, all the time. She understands. My mother just wants to help, but you don't have to talk to her. You'll feel better after some rest and you can get back to work tomorrow like nothing happened." Her lips turned up a bit at the corners, and she glanced up at me shyly, looking hopeful. "No one is upset with you." I repeated, squeezing her gently against my side. To my unending surprise, she let me hold her, continuing to lean against me as if for comfort. Maybe she trusted me…the thought made my heart warm, and my stomach tightened at both the knowledge that she needed the comfort and the worry that this would suddenly be too much for her…that she would shove me away and tell me to leave her alone.

"I hurt his feelings." I couldn't argue with that. But it wasn't her fault, and I reminded her of that softly. "I hat this. I hate being afraid when I don't have to be."

"That's going to change, B. It takes time, just ask any of the women here. You'll realize that you're safe now." She pulled away a little, looking up at me almost fearfully as if she was looking for the truth of my assertion in my eyes. I met her eyes as steadily as I could, trailing my hand down her arm to find her hand, squeezing gently. She laced her fingers through my own, and just for a second, she had a familiar look on her face…a strange, almost longing look that I knew was mirrored in my own, and it took me a minute to shove down that hope. There was no way I was interpreting that correctly. She was traumatized. She was frightened. She'd just had a panic attack because a man who looked like her abuser had come too close to her. There was no way she had any interest in me as anything other than her doctor. Maybe even as a friend, but that was pushing it. I had a crush on her and that was the only reason I thought, for just a millisecond, that she might want me to kiss her. I was being ridiculous.

With a long, sad sigh, Bella rested her head on my shoulder once more and almost snuggled against me, shifting against me. "Why don't you want to go to sleep?" She shrugged, like a child that was fighting sleep, and I ran my hand over her back, running my other thumb over the back of her hand. "Are you afraid?"

"I'm always afraid." She admitted, hiding her face in my shoulder.

"Go ahead and rest. I'll be right here."

"I'm so tired of being afraid."

"I won't let anything happen to you."

"What if he comes here?"

"Emmett and Jasper won't let him get to you. None of us will."

"What if you can't stop him?" Her voice had gone faint and I shifted so that we were reclining against the back of the sofa, her small body cradled against me, fitting perfectly beside me and under my arm.

"I won't let anyone hurt you. I promise. I'll do anything to keep you safe?"

"Why?" That was the million dollar question, wasn't it? It wasn't my job. I wasn't her bodyguard. I decided to tell her just a little of the truth.

"Because I care about you." I murmured. "You're important to me."

"Why?" She asked again, her voice somehow fragile, as if my answer could break her. I wouldn't let that happen.

"Because you're special to me. I want to make sure you're okay. Because you're smart and lovely and so, so strong. You're one of the strongest people I know, and I hate what you've had to go through, but I think you are an incredible person. And I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure you're safe. Okay?"

"Okay." She whispered, her voice trailing off just a little, and I smiled when I realized that she was drifting off. "I'll be here in the morning." I told her quietly, relishing the feeling of her in my arms if only for a little while. "Just sleep. You don't have anything to be afraid of here." Except the doctor that had a crush on her, because honestly I couldn't see how that could possibly end well.

Rose found us like that almost an hour later, her perfectly manicured eyebrow lifting in disapproval, and I sighed, trying to explain as quietly as I could that she had been feeling bad and I'd been trying to help her. Shaking her head, Rosalie entered the room fully, kneeling beside me. "Edward, you know this looks inappropriate." She warned softly.

"I was trying to comfort her. She was frightened, and I was trying to make her feel better. That's all."

"You're sure?"

"Rose…." I sighed, shaking my head. This wasn't something I wanted to get into at the moment. "Can you just get the door so I can take her to bed?"

"Take her to bed?"

"Rosalie!" I snapped under my breath, and she sighed heavily, standing and heading over to the door to hold it open while I slipped my arms under her shoulder and knees, lifting her easily and carrying her through the door and into the hallway. Sometime during the last hour, I assumed Jasper had actually gone home, or maybe he was still hanging around somewhere with Emmett, waiting to talk to me.

"This is the only time I'm going to allow you into the women's rooms. You know that right?"

"She fell asleep on the couch, Rose. I just offered to listen if she needed to talk and she didn't feel well. She fell asleep while she was talking to me. I'm taking her to bed."

"You have a crush on her. You're practically obsessed with her." My jaw dropped and I glanced down quickly to make sure Bella was asleep. Her eyes were closed, thankfully, and I glared at my sister in law. "Outside of this shelter, you do whatever you want with her, as long as she's okay with it. But I've told you before…"

"I was comforting her!" I snapped, trying to keep my voice down as we headed into the women's bedroom, and I placed the sleeping girl onto her bed, tucking her in automatically as I argued with Rose. "Nothing else. You know I wouldn't do anything to get you into trouble, or to hurt any of the women here."

"I think you're walking a very thin line between 'comforting her' and behaving inappropriately with one of your patients." Rose told me simply as we left the room, shutting the door behind her so that the light didn't wake the other sleeping women and kids.

"She's my father's patient, not mine. I happen to work here."

"Exactly! Edward, you work where she lives. You don't see a problem with that?"

"No. Because nothing happened. We were just talking." Rose sighed, turning to face me in the empty hallway, but before she could say anything, Emmett emerged from the kitchen, looking between us warily.

"Jazz told me what happened." He told us quietly, glancing behind us at the closed door that would lead us to the women's bedroom. "She okay?"

"She's fine." Rose told him shortly, giving me a sideways look as she moved toward her office. "Where's Emilie?"

"Jazz has her in the front room." So that's where he was. We found him sitting on the sofa, the small girl curled up on his lap, her hand fisted in his shirt, her head on his shoulder as her heavy eyes moved to us. Rose reached out her arms, thanking Jasper softly and pulling the girl into her arms. Immediately her daughter's arms looped around her neck and Emmett turned to me.

"What happened?" He wondered quietly.

"I think it was a panic attack…"

"No, I know that. I mean, what has Rose so upset?"

Jasper had stood and was now standing beside us, listening for my response. "She was upset. I told her she could talk to me. She did. She fell asleep. That's it." I told them irritably, and Jasper lifted an eyebrow. "Rosalie thinks that something…inappropriate is going on between us."

"Is it?"

"Of course not!" I snapped, glaring at Emmett. "You know I wouldn't…it's just…I mean, I do like her but…"

"I get it." Emmett held up a hand, shaking his head. "I didn't think you would do anything inappropriate with her, especially not here. Rose just wants you to be careful."

"I am being careful."

"Are you sure she's okay?" Jasper put in, and I offered him a weak smile.

"She will be. You look like the man that hurt her. You can't help that." Emmett lifted an eyebrow. "I'm guessing it's the blond hair and blue eyes. It freaked her out when he got too close…that's why she's so frightened of him." Emmett sighed, crossing his arms.

"Why don't you take over hanging around with the kids…I'll just take the women to their jobs and patrol outside."

"No…that would just make her feel worse." I argued, turning to Jasper. "She hates that she hurt you…she's still working through this."

"I don't want to scare her again." He told me with a self conscious shrug, and I dropped a hand on my friend's arm.

"I know. But if you keep your distance and start avoiding her, it'll just make her feel worse."

He sighed, shaking his head and rubbing a hand through his hair. I knew that he didn't want to hurt her. But I also knew that by avoiding her, he would still be hurting her. It was like there was no winning, no matter what we did. And it wasn't Bella's fault. It wasn't anybody's fault, except for that monster who'd hurt her, wherever he was. "She'll be okay." I told him quietly. "It's going to be fine. It'll just take some time."

"That's easy for you to say. She likes you. She's comfortable with you. And Emmett too. But I got too close and she had a panic attack." He held up a hand, shaking his head when I would have argued. "Just…forget it. It's fine. I'm going to head home. Alice is waiting up." He nodded goodbye, giving Emmett a quick grin and waved goodbye to Rosalie who was coming out of her office with Emilie on her hip, fast asleep.

"We'd better be getting home." She told Emmett simply, and he gave me an apologetic look as he followed her out. I trailed behind, knowing better than to stick around when everyone else was leaving. From my car, I watched the others drive away, crossing my arms and laying my head back against the headrest. I hadn't done anything wrong. But if Bella had wanted to kiss me, I wouldn't have stopped her. And if Rosalie had walked in, she would have had every right to kick me out. She'd worked so hard on this shelter…it was her life. And Bella wasn't even close to emotionally stable right now. I couldn't let myself do this. I couldn't change my feelings for her, but I could be a professional when I was working with her. I could make sure that nothing inappropriate happened between us while she was still so vulnerable. I would be careful. I would be the professional. And maybe one day, when she was back on her feet, I could see if this spark I felt between us really meant anything.

It was strictly professionalism that had me waking up at six am to hurry over to the shelter, drowning coffee after coffee to keep my eyes open as I drove to the shelter and parked in the back, glancing over at Emmett and Jasper's cars before hurrying into the shelter and through the back to the Rosalie's office where I found my sister in law filling out forms, little Emilie asleep on the sofa. I plopped down in the chair across from her, smiling when she started a little, lifting an eyebrow and blinking at me. "Are you going to be here all day?"

"Good morning to you too."

"Look, Edward, you know this isn't personal."

"I'm a doctor who also helps out in the kitchen. I'm an excellent volunteer. You've never had any reason to complain about me. So what's up?"

"You have a crush on one of the girls."

"I do." I shrugged. "So what? I wasn't going to act on it. Not in here, and not right now anyway. I've never behaved unprofessionally in the workplace. Why would you think I would start now?"

"You've never had a crush on one of the girls, Edward."

"Nothing inappropriate has happened, Rose. You know that. And nothing will. So will you stop giving me the cold shoulder and treating me like a pedophile?" She rolled her eyes, glancing over at Emilie, still asleep on the sofa, and then pointed at the door.

"We need servers in the kitchen. Don't make me throw you out of this place."

"Love you too." I grumbled, snorting as I grabbed a blanket off of the back of the couch and draped it over the sleeping girl on the couch.

"Out." She ordered, grabbing another file from her desk and going to work.

The kitchen was full of volunteers and workers, all working to get breakfast assembled, and I found Emmett and Jasper mixing pancake batter. I joined them, grabbing a bowl and nodding good morning, still trying to wake up. "You're here early." Thankfully, Emmett's voice was more amused than reprimanding, and I shrugged with a grin.

"I had a day off."

"You didn't need to use your day off to…sleep? Instead of showing up here to make pancakes?"

"Does this have anything to do with the young woman who recently arrived…the one you were 'speaking with' yesterday?" I kicked Jasper in the shin, glad he was feeling better but not wanting the chance that Rosalie could overhear me being accused of unprofessional behavior, even jokingly.

"Don't let Rose hear you." Emmett warned him. "Rose is ready to have Eddie here thrown out. And she wants me to do the throwing out. So behave." He pointed his finger in my face, jerking back when I flicked pancake batter into his face.

Of course Bella arrived early to get breakfast, as she had to be at work early. And I knew it wasn't my imagination that she gave me a tiny smile, her eyes bright and sweet and her cheeks heated up just a little as I placed a pancake on her plate, then handed her a little container of syrup. Jasper was silent beside me, his head bowed, and Bella turned to him, her mouth opening and closing as though she wanted to say something, then turned away, sighing softly. I could have kicked myself…where did my professionalism go? Pushing the thought away, I smiled at the next woman in line, placing the pancake on her plate and handing her some syrup.

Breakfast flew by, and before long, I was doing dishes, scrubbing pancake and syrup off of plates. Jasper washed beside me, and Emmett waved goodbye cheerfully, heading into the other room where Bella watched the kids. "You okay?" I asked, glancing over at Jasper who was staring down at the sink.

"Fine." He smiled a little. "I think Marie's feeling better today…she seems okay."

"I encouraged her to speak with my mother…or anyone she felt comfortable with."

"Including you?" He asked with a slight smile, and I nodded, not bothering to deny it. "You think she'll come to you?"

"She was talking to me last night." I reminded him. "When she fell asleep."

"And you don't think this could be a problem?"

"I'm a doctor."

"Yeah, a doctor that likes her."

"But I know I can't do anything about that right now. I want to help her."

"Just be careful." He told me quietly. "Keep it professional in the building." He paused, placing a clean dish on on the dish drainer. "I think she likes you too, you know?" He grinned. "Did you see the way she looked at you when she was in line?" I crushed a small smile, shaking my head.

"I didn't notice." Jasper snorted, stacking the dry dishes and leaving me at the sink to finish up on my own. Of course I'd noticed. But I couldn't deny it, not really. She's smiled at me, her face lighting up when she'd seen me. And maybe it was just because I'd been willing to listen there. Maybe it was because I'd had the most interaction with her and she was starting to trust me. Either way, I would take it.

Thank you everyone for reading :)