Still doing an edit, not an update. Apologies if you thought it was a new chapter :D


Chapter 12

Bella

It had been a week since Alice and I moved in with Edward and his brothers and so far everything has gone very well. The five of us get along great and everyone understands there are times we need a break from each other. Every morning Alice heads off to work and Jasper drives her and follows her to her cleaning job for the day, keeping an eye on her while she does her thing. She was resistant at first, stating what happened with me wasn't going to happen with her but eventually gave in. I remember the evening it happened, I was in her room after she had a particularly bad argument about Jasper coming with her to the houses she had to clean.

~ Flash back to two nights ago ~

"Alice why are you so resistant to this?" I demand.

"I just don't want him coming with me Bella." She replies.

I huff. "Fine. Emmett will go with you then."

"I don't want him either. I just want to go by my self."

"Alice what's this about?" I ask after a long pause. "You can't seem to be in the same room as Jasper for longer than five minutes. What's going on between the two of you?"

Alice looks up at me with tears in her eyes. "I'm embarrassed to be around him." She says weakly.

"Embarrassed? What on earth do you have to be embarrassed about? We just met him!" I exclaim.

"You mean you just met him." She states.

"W-What?" I ask confused.

"I've met Jasper before Bella." She says, walking towards the bed and taking a seat on the edge. "Remember a few weeks ago when I got really drunk and I went home with that blonde, tall guy when we were at that club for Jessica's birthday?" She says, looking at me with large eyes, pleading for me to understand.

"You mean..." I trail off.

"Yes Bella, it was Jasper. I slept with Jasper. And then afterwards when he was asleep I snuck out of his apartment and came home."

"But you were hung up on him for weeks!" I say, a little surprised still that Alice had a one night stand.

"I know I was, can you blame me though? He's gorgeous." She says with a smile. But then her expression changes and she becomes serious. "He's so out of my league, Bella. I thought I did the right thing by leaving during the night. But then I saw the hurt in his eyes when he saw me in your hospital room."

"Have you guys spoken about this?" I ask softly.

"Yes. And he wants to start over. He said he understands why I left. But he said he wanted me to stay. He's not the kind of guy to just sleep with a woman and never call." She sighs. "And I believe him Bella, I'm just so embarrassed. I'm embarrassed to be around all of them because I feel like he might of said something about it to his brothers. I wouldn't blame him, it was a good night."

"Alice I think you should give him a go. If he really means it then I think you should go for it." I say, trying to encourage her.

"You really think so?" She asks timidly. "I should just get over my embarrassment?"

"Yes, and you should go and talk to him right now!"

~ End flash back ~

That was two nights ago. And now Alice is more than happy for Jasper to accompany her wherever she needs to go. She said they get along great and can't believe she nearly lost him forever. Emmett has been driving me back and forth between Edward's place and school. On the first day he asked me about Rosalie. He wanted to know what she was like because he was trying to plan a date.

"I don't know what to tell you Emmett. I really don't know her, she was my nurse. She was professional and kind and so sweet to me but that was her job so I really can't comment on her personality. Besides I don't think you need any help Emmett. You must go on dates all the time, right? I question.

"Sure?" He says, but it comes out as a question.

"You're not the dating kind are you Emmett?"

"Not until now." He says looking away from me.

"I don't know what she's like but most girls like flowers. Maybe you can start with that." I offer, hoping that it helps. I feel bad for him. He seems like a confident guy so to be this nervous he must really like her.

"I just don't want to screw it up."

As Emmett and I are walk to my class we meet up with Alice and Jasper along the way. Emmett stands guard outside of the room while Jasper sits with us in our seats. He sits on the end with Alice next to him. I can see how much he likes her and cares for her, and the thought makes me smile. We head home after another long day but I insist on us stopping at a grocery store so I can pick up dinner stuff. Emmett calls Jasper to let him know where we are going but decides to continue driving with Alice.

"How does beef stir fry sound?" I ask Emmett as I put some vegetables in the trolly.

"Sounds good. With rice?" He asks.

I nod my head and we quickly move through the store. Fifteen minutes later Emmett is swiping the credit card Edward gave him for such purchases and we make our way back to the car. I'm not a lot of help when unpacking so I sit up front while Emmet loads up the trunk. When we get home I immediately start cooking. Alice and Jasper aren't any where around but I'm not surprised. They have been disappearing a lot together over the last few days. I play some music on Edward's fancy stereo while I cook. He showed me how to use it the second day I was here so that I wouldn't break it.

At six o'clock everything is ready. I've set the table and wrapped the food in foil to keep it warm. I knock on everyone's doors telling them to come down stairs. I don't dare enter Alice's room though. Jasper is definitely in there with her. When I make my way back down stairs I'm surprised to see Edward standing in the kitchen trying to take a peak of the food.

"Hey." I say as I enter the room. "I didn't think you'd be back until later."

I've learnt over the last few days that Edward is a complete workaholic. He gets home late and starts his day early. I have no idea how he does it. And when I asked him about he shrugged saying the more he works during the week the more time he has to himself on the weekend.

"I'm going to try and get back here at a decent time for the next few weeks, other wise I'll never get to see you." He says with pink ears.

I'm momentarily thrown by his admission. I spent half the day convincing myself that there is nothing going on between Edward and I, and then he goes and says something so sweet and kind like that and it gets my hopes up. But before I can reply everyone comes down stairs and starts loading up their plates. We sit and eat together. It's like we're a real family. I love it. It's been so long since I've sat down at a table and eaten dinner with my family. And as I look around the table I realise that the five of us are definitely heading in that direction. I can definitely see myself calling theses four people my family. After everyone is finished I start cleaning the wok and other utensils I used. Edward helps by loading up the dishwasher. We work side by side in silence for a few minutes, the music is playing softly. Some kind of classical piece.

After a few minutes Edward says, "you were quiet at dinner."

"Oh!" I'm surprised he noticed. "Yeah I guess I was." I say, not offering an explanation.

"Everything okay?" He queries.

"Yeah." I say, turning back to my dishes and scrubbing them twice as hard.

When we are finished and everything is put away Edward takes my hand and pulls me towards his study. Once inside he leads my to a plush black leather couch on the far wall.

"Talk to me Bella." He says, taking both my hands in his. I briefly think about how nice it feels and how warm his hands are. They're smooth and big and completely engulf mine.

"I was just thinking about how I missed my family. Sitting around the table like that reminded me when I had one." I state.

"You don't have a family?" He asks as his index finger sweeps the hair away from my face, placing it behind my ear.

I blush at the intimacy of the gesture. "Not really." I respond looking down.

"Tell me." He says, softly lifting my chin with two fingers so that he can look into my eyes. "Tell me Bella, share the burden. I want to listen."

I search his eyes and all I can find in sincerity and care. He really wants to know.

"I don't have a dad anymore." I state. "And mum is still alive but..." I pause, taking a deep breath in and then whisper, "she wouldn't even recognise me if I told her who I was."

"She's sick?" Edward asks.

"Yes, she has been since my eighteenth birthday. That was the last time I heard her tell me that she loves me, and the last time she ever used my name." I say with tears running down my face. This story is so hard to tell, the only other person who knows is Alice. But I can see now that I need Edward to help me but more than anything I want to tell him what happened.

So I start my story from the beginning. I go back to the night of my eighteenth birthday, the night when my life changed forever...