A/N: sorry for keeping you guys in suspense for so long…hope you guys like this chapter!

Disclaimer: Unfortunately I do not own Twilight. :(

BPOV

It had been at least a half an hour that I was frozen with terror on this couch, and all I could think about was why these people were here and what they wanted and if they would hurt us and if Charlie and Renee would be home soon and what would happen. Ok so I guess I had a lot on my mind. But it was all centered on extreme fear. But I was glad that Edward was here with me, holding me in his arms.

They had tied one of Edward's wrists and one of his feet to the couch, but hadn't tied me up, probably viewing Edward as more of a threat.

I had concluded that there were three men in the house, the one that came into my room, the one named Tom, and one other young looking man. They hadn't been in the living room much but they seemed to be looking for something.

Edward was too calm next to me, and it made me uneasy. I could only hope he was thinking of something to save us from this. The young man came into the living room and stared at me with a picture in his hands.

I became nervous as he walked towards me.

"Who did you say you were again?" he asked.

"Um, Elizabeth Cullen." I said shakily.

He stared at me for another immeasurable amount of time and then walked out of the room, talking to the big man with the pot belly. The young man had called him Laurent.

Laurent stormed into the room and grabbed my hair again, I held in a whimper.

"You're lying; this is you in the picture! Tell us what you know!" he yelled and pointed to a family picture that had been in Charlie's office.

"I-I don't know anything. I don't even k-know w-why you're he-ere." I sobbed, officially scared to death. I had no idea what these men were capable of or what they were looking for. And when the man had grabbed my hair, he pulled me off of the couch so I was separated from Edward, even though I was still slightly near him, it wasn't good enough.

"Hey, let her go!" Edward yelled at him. "Neither of us knows why you're here!"

The man thought for a minute, trying to decide if he really wanted to share information with us. "Officer Charlie Swan has recently been investigating some…items of interest…and we want the files." He explained simply.

Charlie never really told me about his cases at the station, but I always thought he did nothing but boring paper work, I guess I was wrong.

"Have you checked under his desk in his office?" I asked quietly and the man and Edward looked at me questioningly. "I swear I don't know anything but I've heard him talking about something under his desk a few times." I tried to explain.

"Stay here." He instructed firmly and called the young man to follow him. "James, get over here." His voice traveled up the stairs as he headed to Charlie's office.

Edward held me to his chest again and sat back down on the couch. I hated feeling so scared and powerless like a damsel in distress, but I just couldn't understand how Edward didn't seem to be afraid. He just acted cautious, so they wouldn't get mad at him.

"Thank you so much for coming inside." I whispered to him. "I don't know how I could have survived without you being here."

If I had been in my room alone when these men came I'm sure I would have been dead by now, or in some other serious trouble.

"Shh, Bella. Please don't worry." He tried to calm me down again. "I'm sure once they have what they want they'll leave."

The three men came back down the stairs with a bunch of papers in their hands.

I still didn't know exactly what they were looking for, but I really hoped they would leave once they found it.

"Did you get what you needed?" Edward asked them calmly.

"Yes." The man named James responded. "Now…you two…" he trailed off.

"If you leave now we won't tell anyone, no need for anyone to get hurt." Edward offered.

"I don't think I'm willing to take the risk." James said. "You two," he turned to the other men. "Bring the car around. I'll take care of these two."

I held onto Edward's arm tightly but was reminded of the guns these men carried when James pulled hi out. "Come with me." He said to me. I looked worriedly at Edward but he motioned for me to listen to James, leaving Edward sitting tied up to the couch.

He grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the dark kitchen.

"Now," he breathed. "Let's not make this hard." One of his rough fingers traced over my cheek, making me flinch. "You give me what I want," his hand moved down over my chest and across my waist. "And I'll let you stay alive."

I whimpered helplessly as he came closer to me. I backed up until I was trapped between the counter and the wall.

He chuckled darkly and took off his jacket, walking closer to me.

"Don't touch her." Edward appeared in the doorway.

James growled and turned around to face Edward, no longer having his gun as the upper hand.

Edward sprung on him and punched him in the face and James fell over slightly, clearly not expecting it. He rammed James' face into the counter, banging it against the marble a few times. I heard James groan and Edward punched him in the stomach a few more time.

"I told you to leave and we wouldn't tell anyone." Edward spat at him.

James got free of Edward hold and took a few swings at him, hitting him once in the jaw and making him fall to the floor. I stood frozen by the counter.

James turned back to me but Edward didn't give up easily and was quickly on his feet again, taking a hold of James' arm and twisting it behind his back while slamming his face into the counter again.

"Don't you dare even think about laying a hand on her." Edward said to him. I was now scared of both James and Edward. I wasn't scared that Edward would hurt me, like I was scared James would, but I was just scared of this side of him. His face was so emotionless and his voice so harsh.

Just then we heard two gun shots from the living room and a scream I recognized as Renee's.

"Mom! Dad!" I yelled.

They came into the kitchen and saw me at the edge of the counter and Edward holding down James on the other end of the room.

"Charlie! Give me your gun!" Edward shouted, struggling to hold James down. Surprisingly Charlie handed it to him and he held it against James' head.

"Where are the files James?" Charlie asked and I found myself wondering how Charlie knew James.

"I'll never tell you." He struggled against Edward's grip but stopped when Edward pressed the gun closer to his face.

Charlie grabbed his belt from behind the door and put James in handcuffs, one hand at a time to make sure he didn't try anything, and briefly patted Edward on the back.

"I'm sorry you had to deal with this Edward. Thank you for keeping my daughter safe." He said quietly. I watched him lead James out the kitchen door and out to his cruiser to go down to the police station. I was still petrified at the counter and Edward walked over to me slowly.

He placed a hand next to my waist on the counter and the other on my cheek, causing me to flinch. A hurt look crossed Edward's face but he quickly recovered.

"Are you okay Bella? Did he hurt you?" he asked quietly.

"No," I whispered. "I'm okay." I responded. He hadn't hurt me, not physically, but just those few seconds of pure horror, not having control of what was going to happen or where he touched me, that had hurt me.

Edward tried to comfort me but when I saw his arms move towards me a shied away. I could see that it hurt him but I couldn't stay in control of my emotions and I could barely think. He tried again, but didn't coil away this time when I started to shrug away. He continued and successfully placed his arms around me, squeezing me tightly.

I lost it then. I let out all of the tears and sobs I had been holding in for the last few hours.

"It's ok Bella. It's over. I'm here, and no one is going to hurt you." He whispered into my ear and kissed the top of my head.

I couldn't say anything so I just hugged him tighter. Tears stained my cheeks as we stood there for another immeasurable amount of time. Everything seemed to have no time limit today, the fear, the tears, even the joy, now that it was all over.

After a while my legs started to become limp and Edward mentioned something about how I should get to sleep soon. I nodded, still not sure if I was capable of talking.

I felt one of Edward's hands around my waist and the other at my knees as he lifted me up effortlessly and carried me up the stairs to my room. I noticed he took the far stair case so we wouldn't have to go through the front entry. I didn't want to know if those men were in there dead or not.

He set me down so I was sitting on my bed.

"Stay here." I said as I got up to walk across the hall to the bathroom.

Renee was in the hallway. "Bella, honey." He hugged me. "Are you alright."

I nodded. "I'm okay now mom. But…" I hesitated. "Can Edward please stay here tonight?"

I think the only reason she agreed was that she saw how shaken up I was.

"Thank you mom."

She nodded. "Get some sleep honey."

I made my trip to the bathroom quick and went back to my room, not wanting to be alone, even in the brief seconds I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth.

Edward had laid back onto my bed and closed his eyes, I couldn't help but smile.

I slipped under the covers. "Edward." I whispered.

"Hmm?" he opened his eyes.

"Can you stay with me?" I asked, embarrassed when my voice cracked.

He held me tightly to his chest. "Bella, I can't." He whispered back. "What about your parents?" he asked.

"Renee will understand." I tried. "And I doubt Charlie will be home until tomorrow."

"Bella…" Edward started.

"Edward, please?" I pleaded, looking up at him. "I don't want to be away from you. I don't want to have nightmares." I said quietly as tears started rolling down my cheeks again.

"Bella, Bella." He cooed, wiping away my tears. "I'm here." he assured me. "Where else am I gonna go?" He lifted himself up and pulled the covers over him, holding me tighter now that the covers weren't in our way.

"Get some sleep." He whispered and kissed me softly. "Good night."

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A/N: Yay! They made it! Let me know what you guys thought! I got a ton of amazing review last chapter so let's shoot for some more! Tell me what you thought if you reviewed last chapter that you were shocked! Was it anything like your ideas? Had a feeling that James would be one of the bad guys?

REVIEWWW!!!!

:)