Here we go again … the plot bunny just couldn't stay away. Persistent little fucker. Originally, this began as a dream. When I woke up, I wrote down as much as I could, but it's morphed into something different.

Still with me? What do you think? And when will Edward break down and share information about Tanya. Will he share it with Bella? His family? His friends?

Thank you to 67Original from Wattpad for the beautiful new banner for Shaky Ground!

Chapter Eleven

By the following morning, Edward had a raging migraine and was particularly testy. He snapped at Bella more often than not and by mid-morning, she'd had enough. With a scowl, she left, looking a little worse for wear and Edward was again, alone in his too-big house.

However, he wasn't alone for long. He was laying in his bed, trying to get rid of his headache, when he heard the door slam open. Dragging his sore and hungover body out of bed, he was surprised to see Emmett and Jasper standing in his foyer, the door almost hanging off its hinges. "Do I need to call the cops?" Edward snarled. "You just broke into my house."

"You got lucky," Jasper said. "And we can fix this, but you got fucking lucky, Masen."

"Explain?" Edward asked, sitting down on the steps and trying to quell the throbbing in his head.

"One of Demetri's coworkers explained that he was married to your ex-fiancée," Emmett said. "And that they're expecting their first child. Apparently, he acted like a dick to you." He grumbled, closing the door and making mental note of the supplies needed to fix it. "Are you going to tell us what the fuck happened? You don't go off half-cocked like that …"

"You want the story?" Edward growled.

"If it'll help us understand that fight, yes," Jasper said. "You were unhinged, Edward. Why were you so fucked up?"

"Let me make some coffee and get some ice. My face hurts," he grumped. He stomped to the kitchen and turned on his Keurig. He gestured to his friends and they nodded.

"Well, you had a hot doc to take care of you, it would seem," Jasper teased, waggling his brows. "Alice said that Bella didn't come home last night."

"She made sure I didn't slip into a coma. She woke me up every couple of hours. She also stitched me up," Edward said, shrugging nonchalantly.

"That woman deserves flowers or something. She put up with your cranky ass," Emmett snorted.

"Yeah, Alice sent me a text saying that Bella hates you and that you're worst fucking patient on the planet," Jasper guffawed. "Did you even thank her for helping you?"

Edward had the decency to look abashed. "No, I didn't."

"I hope you do because according to Ali, she's on a rampage," Jasper said, reading the texts from his girlfriend. "You may not be male for very much longer if Bella had her way."

"I'll talk to her," Edward whispered, feeling badly for being a first-class dick to Isabella. She had been a consummate professional and was clearly concerned for him. "Please, just tell your girlfriend to give me a chance to make it up to her, to B-B-Bella, that is."

"If she'll let you," Jasper snickered.

Edward finished brewing the coffee and put out the mugs for his friends. "I don't have any creamer or sugar. Black is your only option," he said. They shrugged, used to drinking coffee without any adornment. The shit they served in the station was a step up from toxic sludge. Edward poured himself a mug, taking two Tylenol and gesturing to the living room. They sat down on the couch and Edward was assaulted, even through his broken nose, by Isabella's sweet perfume. He sipped his coffee.

"You have your coffee. Now, explain," Emmett said, leaning forward.

"No one knows what happened. Only me, my father and …" he made a face, trying not to show his emotions, "Tanya." He blew out a breath and looked down at his coffee. "I met Tanya in college, my senior year. She was beautiful, exotic, brilliant and everything I had hoped for. In my mind, I was the nerd from high school, but I went through a transformation in college, bulked up, got rid of the acne … lost the nerd persona. Anyway, she had transferred from a school in California. We got to talking and we had a lot in common. She was also going into the medical field, but as a nurse. We started dating and when I graduated, going to medical school, she followed me. She got a job as a nurse at one of the local hospitals."

"Where did you go to medical school?" Jasper asked.

"Johns Hopkins," Edward answered. "We stayed together, never living together, but dating and fucking as often as we could."

"Was she your first?" Emmett asked.

"No. When I lost the nerd persona, I fucked around. Not a lot, but I lost my virginity at some sorority house," Edward blushed. "Anyway, when I got my placement for my residency, I was matched to Harborview. Tanya had come back with me when I visited my family and wasn't a fan of Seattle. She hated the rain and the cold." He sat back and sighed. "I told her about my match and immediately started looking for jobs in the Seattle area. Because she was so willing to upend her life, I considered making it official. I loved her. We'd been together for almost four years. There were times where she was distant, but for the most part we were happy.

"I bought this place after my second year of my residency," Edward said. "I proposed to Tanya on those very steps, asking her to share her life with me. She said yes. I was happy. She moved in and we began sharing our lives."

"You'd lived separately up until you proposed?" Jasper asked.

"Tanya liked having her own space. We'd spend the night, but it was just for a night or two," Edward said. "Anyway, after I proposed, I gave her free reign to decorate this place. And she gleefully took my credit card, buying high end furniture and making the house into a show place. While she did that, I worked. A lot. I was in the middle of my residency and I had to make a name for myself, establishing myself as an excellent physician, hard worker and that I was dedicated to my craft."

"What about Demetri?" Emmett questioned.

"I'll get to him," Edward answered. "Because I was so focused on my job, I didn't even realize that Tanya wasn't working." He clenched his fist, grimacing as his knuckles cracked. "That was the first lie."

"What was?" Jasper whispered.

"Tanya wasn't a nurse. Never was a nurse," Edward laughed bitterly. "She lied about getting her nursing degree and working as a nurse in the hospital in Baltimore. I'll tell you what she did in a second, though." He got up, swiping a bottle of water and counted to ten. He sat back down. "Anyhow, Tanya lived in my house, wore my ring and spent my money, all while I thought she was working as a nurse at Virginia Mason. The only thing she was doing at Virginia Mason was Demetri, his brother Felix, and a slew of other doctors, nurses and medical technicians."

"How did you find that out?" Emmett asked. "I'm guessing she was probably careful."

"My dad, ironically enough," Edward laughed angrily. "He asked to see me on a rare day off. I wanted to be with my fiancée and spend the day worshipping her. But, my father, who has privileges at Virginia Mason, saw Tanya blowing Felix in a supply closet. He didn't like that and he asked his attorney for help. Using one of his PI's on retainer, my father discovered Tanya's secret relationships. He showed me the pictures, proof of her infidelity. In each of the pictures, she wore my ring, her accepted promise to marry me. I couldn't believe it. I didn't want to believe it. I had a huge argument with my father. I denied it, but I recognized her body. I drove home, the pile of photos on my front seat. I wanted to deny it. I wanted to show Tanya and for her to deny it. She didn't. She laughed at me. Laughed."

"I'm totally confused," Jasper said, shaking his head. "Why did she laugh?"

"Because she was playing me the entire time we were together. Six years of our lives and she was scamming me," Edward spat. "I told you she was a never a nurse. Never received her nursing degree. She didn't even finish college. When we moved out to Baltimore, her apartment was paid for by Tanya selling her body or selling drugs. She had high-risk sex and exposed me to whoever she was fucking. On top of that, she'd been pregnant six times. She had had six abortions. Do you want to know who she fucked without a condom? Me."

"Oh, shit," Jasper gasped. "I'm pro-choice and all that, but that's …"

"Yeah. I'm the same way, but she didn't want to risk her body while she was trying to make money," Edward grumbled. "On top of that, she said that I was a loser and that I'd never amount to anything. She was only with me because of my money. She'd hocked my engagement ring, replacing it with a CZ version of it so she could snort more of it up her nose. She's a coke addict, but her preferences were expensive, designer drugs, which she bought off of Felix, Demetri and her friends at Virginia Mason. I lost it. I completely lost it. The woman who I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with was nothing but a drug-addicted whore. I kicked her out and completely trashed my house. I hated my life. I hated my job. I hated everything."

"You weren't suicidal, were you?" Emmett asked. Edward looked at the couch, picking up a ponytail holder that was undoubtedly from Isabella. "Holy shit, you were. When did this happen?"

"Four years ago," Edward answered.

"Edward joined our league five years ago," Jasper said. "It was Tanya who encouraged you to help us out. Right?"

"Yeah, so she could fuck Demetri in our bed," Edward snorted bitterly. "He was her favorite. In fact, when I confronted her, she said she was going to leave me to be with Demetri. He was her soul mate. She also said that she never wanted children. That was something I yearned for ever since we got together. I'm an only child and I wanted nothing more than to have children of my own. I wanted to be a better dad than my own father. I screamed at her about the abortions and she said that they were an inconvenience and something she never wanted. She was a cold-hearted bitch, leaving me in the shambles of my life." Edward clenched his fists. "I was a mess. So much so that my mother, a shrink, had to babysit me while I got myself back together. I took three weeks off of work. I removed Tanya from my life, my accounts and from the deed of this house. During that time also made a conscious decision that I'd never let another woman into my life."

"Ever?" both men asked.

"Ever," Edward nodded.

"So, what happened yesterday?" Jasper asked.

"Dummy, Frank told us that Demetri, who's married to Edward's ex-bitch, is expecting their first child," Emmett said, smacking Jasper's head.

"No shit, Sherlock," Jasper sneered. "Why does that piss you off, Edward?"

"Because, she didn't care enough about me to carry my child, but her drug-dealer husband is capable of having a baby with her?" Edward croaked.

"Is that what he whispered to you?" Emmett asked, his voice unusually quiet and concern swirling for his shattered friend. Edward didn't respond. "Edward?"

"He said that she was excited to have his baby. That their child wouldn't be a loser. Like me," Edward snapped. He roared, punching his hand into the wall and there was a sickening crunch. The drywall collapsed underneath his blow and Jasper sprang into action. He gently pulled Edward's hand out of the wall, inspecting it for damage. Edward was barely breathing, his eyes trained on the hole in his wall. His face was blank, but the pain was clear in his gaze.

"Ed, man, can you make a fist?" Jasper commanded. He did and he nodded. "You don't have any broken bones. Just some cuts and lacerations."

"Doesn't hurt," Edward said robotically. "Nothing hurts anymore."

"Edward, you're hurting more than anyone that I know," Jasper whispered. He turned his friend, looking into his eyes. "You need to talk to someone."

"I'm fine," Edward retorted.

"Clearly, you're not," Emmett said. "You have a shrink for a mom and she's …"

"Don't talk about my mother," Edward snarled. "I'm dealing with it."

"I bet to differ," Emmett argued. "Edward, I love you like a brother. I'm closer to you than I am to my own brother. You're a good guy. You don't deserve to beat yourself up over that bitch. You're better off without her. She's a whore and not worthy of you. Yes, she hurt you …"

"She did more than hurt me," Edward said. "She ruined me. I don't trust anyone. At all."

"Even us?" Jasper asked. Edward just shrugged. Rome wasn't built in a day, Jasper thought. "Look, I get why you were upset and you attacked Demetri. What he said was a dick move on his part, especially knowing your history with his wife."

"I appreciate you guys coming over. I do, but I'd really like to be alone," Edward whispered. "I have a wall to fix."

Emmett went to open his mouth but Jasper shook his head. "Okay, Ed. I want you to text one of us to make sure you're alright. We're both off, spending time with our ladies. Can you do that? If you don't, I'm going to have the police do a wellness check."

"Yeah, I will," Edward answered. He continued to stare at the wall. The guys left, but Edward stopped them before they ducked out of the door. "Thank Isabella for me?"

"Will do, Edward, but you need to thank her," Jasper said. "You need to make it right because she took her time to take care of you when she had to work a double today."

"Fuck," Edward hissed. "I will. I swear." They left and Edward slid to the ground, laying his head into his eyes, tears streaming down his cheeks. His heart re-shattering remembering what Demetri had said to him and guilt about how he treated Isabella, someone who had taken care of him when he was bruised from what had happened on the softball field. "I'm an asshole and …" he sniffled. "I'm just an asshole. I deserve this." Didn't I?

A/N: Tanya is a drug-addicted whore, who's pregnant with Demetri's baby. I don't like her. Never liked in the canon that Stephenie Meyer created and I don't like her now. What will Edward do about his fuck up with Bella? And yes, he's got issues. But, the fact that he told Emmett and Jasper indicates that something has changed. Four years and he never said anything. He was just acting like a broody fucker.

Anyhow, if you enjoyed this, please leave me some loving! Thank you oodles!