Cowards that hide behind their words

Don't care whose feelings will get hurt

Their eyes are blinded by their rage

Beware the voice without a face

When your insecure, they'll find the fuel to start a fire

They're pent up pricks with only hatred to inspire

Level heads prevail, revenge won't make it better

Trust your instinct like you trust what's in the mirror

-Billy Talent

BPOV

"Edward, no! Stop! Please, stop!" I heard myself screaming at him.

He had found Emmett and was on top of him hitting him repeatedly. Jasper was on Edward's back, trying to pull him off, but Edward was just too strong. Emmett tried to fight back, but it was no use; it was obvious that Emmett had no idea how to fight, but Edward was well practiced at it.

"Edward, man, that's fucking enough! Get off! Dude, get off!" Jasper was yelling at him and finally was able to peel him off Emmett, but only because Edward let him.

He was holding Edward back by his arms. Em was on the floor, his face was bloody and swollen, his lip was split and it looked like he had a cut by his eye. He was rolling on the floor holding his ribs, where Edward had kicked him repeatedly. I looked over at Edward and he was bright red and breathing heavily.

"You feel like a man, you piece of shit? Huh? You put Bella through hell you fucker! I'm abusive? Really, I'll show you fucking abusive!"

After he said that, he lunged forward, ready to attack again. I screamed and lunged forward to get between them; I grabbed him by the front of his shoulders, while Jasper still had him from behind. I finally got him to make eye contact with me. I could tell he was seeing red.

"Edward, you have to calm down, okay?" I was pleading with him to stop.

"Let Jasper take you outside so you can calm down," He looked at me and shook his head.

"There is no fucking way I am leaving you with him in here," he spat looking down at Em, who was still on the floor groaning.

"Okay, fine. Someone needs to look him over, Jazz could you?"

Jasper nodded that he would, and I decided that I would go outside with Edward. We stepped out, and I could tell the fresh air helped to calm him. I didn't know what to think, I knew that Edward wouldn't let this go, and honestly I didn't expect him to. Not only did Emmet do something to me, and Edward was very protective, but really he did it to Edward. What he said could ruin Edward's reputation. I didn't expect to see Edward lose it like that, though. I looked over at Edward, and he was still breathing heavily. He wasn't hurt, but his shirt was stretched and ripped, either from Em in the fight or from Jasper pulling him off, I wasn't sure which. He spit on the ground and then turned to me.

"Bella, I'm sorry you have gotten dragged into all of this. I never... never should have started a relationship with you."

His words burned through me and it hurt.

"What are you trying to say?"

He looked at me, and all I saw was pain in his eyes.

"This!" he yelled, waving his arm towards the entrance of the house, "My family! I don't want you to be dragged into this mess with them."

"Edward… do you want to be with me or not?" I had to know.

"Of course I do, Bella, I just can't stand to see you having to deal with all of this crap!"

He looked as sad as I felt. He walked over and sat next to me on the front step.

"Edward, you just turned seventeen. You only have your senior year left. Yes, this sucks, and I hate that you're stuck here, but we can get through it."

He had to know I wasn't going anywhere; this was a small amount of time in our lives, and soon he could leave and we could move on. His birthday had just passed the week before with no fan fair. I had made him a cake and dinner, but I don't think his family celebrated it with him. I had learned then, exactly what he meant when he had said his parents didn't want him. He told me the whole story and it broke my heart.

"Bella… I just want you to know… I know it's fast but… I love you." he said, looking me directly in my eyes.

All I saw was love shining through. My heart was beating so hard against my chest. I had felt that way for a while; I couldn't believe that he loved me back.

"Oh Edward, I love you so much."

The most beautiful smile graced his face and he leaned forward and kissed me. We were kissing, and I crawled on his lap, straddling him. We had made out before, but never like this. I could feel him hard against my center, and it was doing crazy things to my body. We were probably getting too into it, when the door opened and Jasper walked out. I quickly slipped off Edward's lap and back on the step, embarrassed that we were caught, once again.

"Whoa! Nothing like a little afternoon delight after a beat down, eh Eddie?" Jasper said wiggling his eyebrows.

"Shut up, Jazz" Edward mumbled.

"Is he ok?" I was pretty sure that Edward hadn't caused any serious trauma, but I still didn't want Em hurt.

"Psh, yeah, he'll be fine. You got some good blows in, but he'll be fine," Jasper said dismissively.

Edward just shrugged. I had a feeling that whatever little of brotherly relationship Edward and Emmett did have, was now over. I felt bad for my part in that situation, but it ran deeper than me; Em would have found some way to attack Edward, with or without me.

As we sat on the porch, everyone was quiet, processing what had just occurred. I thought about the day and how it had seemed to go on forever, and the events that led us three to be sitting there right then.


Everything started at school; I had been in a good mood, thinking about the past weeks.

It had been around three weeks since I went to that first football game to watch Edward play. It was awesome to see him down there on the field, although I was scared about him getting hurt. Every time he got knocked down or tackled, whatever you call it, he would just jump right back up. He would get the ball and run down the field; he was so fast.

The dinner with his mom was nice too. She had been very kind to me all night, but I couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't totally sincere. I had just let the feeling go and decided to enjoy myself. Since the game, I had been to a couple others and he had done so well. I couldn't imagine why his dad would get mad at him. I had yet to spend anytime with the man; Edward did whatever he could to keep me away from him. My dad, however, had tried to come to one of Edward's games. He couldn't stay the whole time, but I could tell how proud he was of Edward. The next few days, he kept saying how good he was and how much potential he had.

Emmett, until that particular morning, had still been ignoring me, but he would make sure to shoot me dirty looks in the halls. I had been on my way to lunch when things went bad. I just had to drop some stuff off at my locker. I was shocked to see Emmett standing next to it waiting for me. I had thought that maybe he decided he was ready to work out the problem between us, but before I could even say hi, he cut me off.

"Still with Edward?" he asked sourly.

I just nodded. He shook his head in disbelief, and walked away, bitterly laughing under his breath. I thought that it was freaking weird. I decided to just ignore him. I had put my stuff away and then was going to meet Alice; my head was shoved in my locker when someone cleared their throat behind me. It was the principal, Mr. Banner.

"Isabella, I need to see you in my office right away," he had requested, with nothing but seriousness in his voice.

Dread had sped through me, and I the only thing I could think of was Charlie. Wanting to know what had happened, I followed him to his office. When I walked in, Mrs. Cope, the school nurse, was already in there. I couldn't figure out why she would need to be there. Mr. Banner shut the door behind him, and then walked over to sit behind his desk. Mr. Banner had a modest office, a couple bookshelves and a desk, that was about it.

"Isabella, can you have a seat?" He asked, motioning toward the chair across from him.

My whole body was trembling in fear of what he was about to say. I was terrified that he was going to tell me my dad died. I can't tell you how relieved I had been when he opened his mouth, and that wasn't what came out. But what he did say, shocked the hell out of me.

"Isabella." He took a deep breath; he was having a hard time meeting my eyes with his own, and Mrs. Cope, well, she looked… I dunno… sad? Angry?

"There has been a very serious accusation made, and by law we have to look into it." Accusation what kind of accusation? I'm sure I had confusion written all over my face.

"Do you know what I'm referring to?" he asked, finally looking at me.

"No, sir, I have no idea." My head was spinning, trying to figure out what it could be.

"Someone has come forward and let me know that you are involved in a very abusive and controlling relationship."

What. The. Fuck?

"What are you talking about?" I had almost jumped out of my chair.

"Are you not dating an," he looked down at a paper in front of him, and continued, "Edward Masen?" he asked me.

"I am, but he is in no way whatsoever abusive or controlling, Mr. Banner"

I couldn't believe this. I had been trying to think who the hell would say something like that about Edward, and then I knew exactly who.

"Did Emmett tell you this?" His head shot up giving it away. Bingo.

"I'm sorry, Isabella, but the student's identity is confidential."

I was fuming and it only got worse. It had to be Emmett, no other "student" there even knew Edward, besides Alice, and she would never lie like that.

"Now, the student said that they have seen the abuse first hand, and they were sure that there would be marks on you. Is this true, does he hit you?"

I was pissed and it had showed; I couldn't control my temper. How could they believe his lies?

"NO! He has never, ever once hurt one damn hair on my head. I talk to whomever I please and do whatever I please. Edward is nothing but a gentlemen; Emmett is lying. He is jealous, and he's lying!"

I was on the verge of screaming when Mr. Banner put up his hand, signaling for me to stop yelling at him, I guess.

"That may all be true…" I went to interject that it "was fucking true", when he stopped me again. "But when your parents enrolled you into this school, they signed an agreement stating that when a student is in an emergency situation we must handle it. We are a private institution, and I'm afraid that this falls under that category."

I didn't have a clue what he was talking about. I know we had signed a ton of stuff when I started there, but had no idea what he was planning on doing.

"If I felt the accusation was true, the police would be here already, but with everything you have gone through, I didn't want to do that without speaking to you first." He acted as if he was doing me a fucking favor. Call the cops, Em is lying.

"So, we have two options here, Bella; I can call the authorities, and they can go get Mr. Masen to question him, so they can decide if the accusations are true or not."

I had started panicking. They couldn't do that to Edward! He had done nothing wrong.

"Or, you can let Mrs. Cope look you over for marks and bruises; if she finds nothing on your body, I will not call the authorities, but if she does, I will be calling right away. Either way, I will contact your parents, and they can handle this however they wish. I tried to call them this morning, but I couldn't get a hold of them."

"They were at a doctor's appointment this morning,"

They had been meeting about a possible donor; that was supposed to be a happy day. I had felt like a goddamn criminal. I was going to have to be looked over, because my boyfriend's brother was a jealous psycho.

"How do you want to handle it?"

I had no choice, there was no way in hell I was letting them have cops drag Edward out of school and into questioning. I was sure that was exactly what Emmett wanted.

"Mrs. Cope." My throat had sounded hoarse, and then I was the one that couldn't meet their eyes.

"I really am sorry, Isabella, and I hope that what I was told isn't true."

I had nothing to say. I had already told them it wasn't true. I stood up, with Mrs. Cope following me, and headed to the nurses office. When I had stepped out of the principal's office, Emmett was standing by the door. I wasn't backing down from him. I walked over to him, and I could hear Mrs. Cope trying to stop me, but I didn't give a shit.

"Did you do this?" I had demanded; my voice sounded scary, even to my own ears.

He said nothing back; he just stood there shame all over his face.

"Fuck you, Emmett," I spat as viciously as I could.

"Bella, that's enough. Let's go," Mrs. Cope said, as she gently grabbed my arm and led me away. As I walked away, I kept eye contact with him as long as I could.

I had followed Mrs. Cope into the tiny nurse's room. It was a room the size of a closet behind the secretary's office. There was a bright light and a cot, and on one wall there was cabinet with a sink. I walked in and slammed myself down on the cot, anger radiating off me.

"Okay, Bella, I am so sorry we have to do this, and I want to make it as painless as possible for you."

I just huffed in response, crossing my arms and rolling my eyes. I had felt a little bad for being rude; it wasn't Mrs. Cope's fault, and she hadn't had a choice in the matter. She was an average woman - a working mom. She was always so nice and nurturing to all the students; everyone saw her as their mom away from home when they were sick at school. But not that day, that day she had been my enemy.

"I will step out for a minute, just strip to your bra and underwear and put this on."

She handed me a hospital-type gown. That was when it had hit me; this was really happening. She stepped out of the room, and I began peeling my sweater and jeans off. I could feel the hot tears rolling down my cheeks. Tears of anger, tears of humiliation. I had never felt my privacy so violated. I left my socks on and was wearing a bra and underwear that didn't match, I didn't think of coordinating because I wasn't planning on stripping for anyone today, I had thought, bitterly.

When I had finished, I sat down on the cot; the more I thought about the situation I was in, the angrier I got. I wanted to tear Emmett limb from limb. How could he do that? I was his best friend once. Even though he was hurt, this was unreal. Who would lie about something like this - especially against their own flesh and blood? As I was stewing over that, there was a timid knock on the door, and Mrs. Cope came back in.

"Ok, honey, let's get this done as fast as possible," she said, handing me a tissue to wipe my tears, but I made no attempt to take it from her.

She gave me a look of sympathy and set the tissue on the counter. She had me stand up, and she walked around me, pulling at the gown, inspecting different places on my body; she focused on my back, ribs, and the backs of my legs. I figured those were the places people would find signs of abuse. I wouldn't know, 'cause it has never happened to me. Yet, there I stood, going through a humiliating exam for it. As she continued, I felt the hot tears streaming down my face, nonstop. I could feel my eye makeup running into my eyes, and it burned. She was fast, just like she had said she would be. She closed the gown and took a step back. She handed me the tissue once again. I took it that time, without making eye contact with her.

"Well, Bella, I didn't see a thing on you that would prove the accusations to be true. I am so very sorry you had to do this."

She had looked sorry too, but I had no sympathy for anyone at that moment, so she could feel sorry.

"Ok, well, I'll tell Mr. Banner right away, and maybe I can hold him out of talking to your parents until after school, so you can speak to them first."

Shit, I didn't even think about that, surely Mom and Dad wouldn't believe that bullshit. Right? At that point, I didn't care. I had never been more humiliated in my life. They had said this would remain confidential, but in a school that size, and in a town that small, there was no way that was possible. There was no way I could go back there, I had thought; it was too humiliating. Even though everything had been proven false, the rumors would still fly.

"Okay, I'll let you get dress in peace, and remember you can always come to me with anything."

I made a point to make direct eye contact with her and rolled my eyes.

When the door had shut behind her, I stood up, ripping the stupid gown off, not even bothering with the ties. I ripped my sweater back over my head, completely screwing up my hair. I looked in the mirror after I was dressed. If I hadn't looked abused before, I sure did then. My hair and makeup was a mess, my shirt was stretched around the collar from tugging it on so hard. I looked like a train wreck, and I couldn't find it in me to care. I knew I wouldn't make it through the rest of the school day, and I had no car because Alice had brought me to school.

There had been no way I was going home to face my parents before I talked to Edward; he was the only person I had wanted to see at that time. I walked out of the room, and ran past Mrs. Cope, before she could stop me. The halls were fairly empty, because everyone was back in class from lunch. I made a beeline for the first exit.

It wasn't raining out, but it was so cold. My coat was in my locker, along with my cell phone, and there was no way I was going back in. I didn't want to call Edward out of school; I knew he couldn't miss football, because of his dad; the special spring team may have since finished, but they still did some kind of practice. Apparently, psycho runs in the family; like father like son. I'm surprised Emmett and his dad didn't get a long better, because they were both nuts, I had thought, rolling my eyes to myself.

I had decided that I would just walk to Edward's school. It was only about two miles, maybe a little more. I would just wait until he was done with football, and then we could work something out.

As I was walking, I had thought about what would make Emmett do such a thing. Was he that jealous of Edward? He wouldn't ever dare to confront Edward directly; he was too much of a coward. All of the dirty looks and stuff Emmett had thrown at me in the hall, I had never even mentioned to Edward. I knew he would have been upset and I didn't want to cause a problem. Well there was no way I could've kept something like this from him. Emmett involved him directly. I remember thinking that if Em hadn't already felt bad for what he did, Edward would make sure he did.

I continued to walk, and I was cold; I wrapped my arms around my waist and kept going. The closer I got, the more upset I got; I had hoped that I would pull it all together before Edward was finished with football. I was worried that I would freeze by the time that came. When I made it close to the school, my body was numb from the cold, but I was anything but numb. Tears were once again streaming down my face; I was just so mad and so humiliated. I had planned to find a spot out in the field, behind the school, to wait, not wanting to bring attention to myself, but before I could get there, I heard someone shouting my name. I looked up and saw Jasper running towards me.

"Bella, what the hell happened to you?" I couldn't answer him. Everything that had happened had crashed down on me.

"Bella, seriously, you're freaking me out. What the fuck happened? Did you walk here?"

I had nodded, but still couldn't get the words out.

"Your freezing," he observed. He grabbed my hand - not in an affectionate way but just a way to lead me. He unlocked his car and opened the passenger door for me. He ran to the other side, started the car, and turned the heat on high. "I'm gonna get Edward, I'll be right back,"

"Jasper, no! His dad… you can't …football….. you'll get him in trouble…."

I knew I was making no sense, but I couldn't get the words out. Edward would get into huge trouble from his dad if he missed a practice, and I knew when he found out about what happened he would not be going to practice.

"Okay, Bella, I really have no idea what you're saying, but I do know that Eddie boy will beat the shit out of me if I let you sit here and cry, and not go get him, so sorry, Chica, but I win. I'll be right back." He got out of the car and ran towards the school; I knew I couldn't stop him, so I bent over, resting my head on my knees, and let the hot air from the vents wash over me. The more I sat, the more calm I became.

The car door had suddenly and violently flown open. My head popped up, and Edward was there. I couldn't stop myself, I threw myself at him, and the crying started all over again. He let me cry, just holding me. At one point, he had let go so he could sit down, pulling me with him. He kept asking me what had happened, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get the words out. Jasper came back and brought me a bottle of water; I didn't realize how thirsty I was until I drank the whole thing. After I was done, I was finally able to tell him what happened.

Edward had gone stone ridged, and I could hear Jasper behind him, repeating, "Oh shit, oh shit." After I had finished, Edward stood up, walked over to his car, and the next thing I knew, he punched it as hard as he could. The noise and force of the hit made me flinch. He put both arms on the roof of the car and leaned into it, his back to us. I could see his back rise and fall with the deep breaths he was taking; I knew he was trying to calm down as to not scare me. I knew Edward's temper, I had seen it, but I was never scared of him. He finally turned around and walked back over to us. He squatted by the car so he was eye level with me, and put his hands on both of my knees, rubbing them.

"Bella, I am so, so sorry that he did that, and you had to go through that today." His voice was deadly calm. "I'm gonna make it okay," he had added, leaning in to kiss my forehead.

I could tell he was trying to stay calm for me, but his calmness was false and frightening, and I could tell that he was in a rage.

"Edward, I know you're mad, but you can't do anything crazy."

He just laughed at me, and asked Jasper if he would go in the school and get the rest of his stuff.

"No, really, Edward, I'm mad, too - more than you know - but we have to deal with my parents and stuff."

He knew I was right, the principal would be calling in a matter of hours and it would be better if they heard it from us first. He reluctantly agreed with me, that we should see my parents before we saw Emmett, and he asked Jasper if he would come with us. I asked him why Jasper needed to come, and his response had scared me.

"Because, Bella, I need someone there to stop me from sending Emmett to hell."

It was not going to be good. I had hoped that by the time he talked to my parents, he would calm down. The three of us got into Edward's Volvo and headed to my parents' house. He pulled up, and my mom's car was there, so I knew my dad would be home. I really hoped they believed us. We got out and walked in the door. Charlie was in his normal spot, on his recliner, and Mom was in the kitchen. She came in the living room when she heard us come in.

"What are you guys doing out of school?" she asked, giving Jasper a strange look, since she had never seen him before.

"Uh, Mom, Dad, this is Jasper, Alice's boyfriend," I offered as a response to her question.

"That's nice, but once again, why are you all out of school, what's going on?"

"Charlie, Renee, we need to talk to you about something that happened at Bella's school today."

I was grateful when Edward took the situation over. Renee sat down on the armrest of Charlie's chair, and they gave us there undivided attention. Between Edward and me, we had managed to explained everything; I had never heard Jasper be so quiet. My mom had tears in her eyes, and my dad looked so mad. When he got mad, he didn't yell, he didn't throw things, he would get quiet, and his face would turn red; he would be so calm that it was scary. We both had felt bad about doing that when he was sick, but we had no other option.

"Bella, is any of this true?" he asked, looking right into my eyes. I felt Edward stiffen beside me.

"Dad, of course not! You know Edward, you know he would never do anything like that!" I couldn't believe he didn't believe us.

"Yes, I know Edward, but this has nothing to do with Edward, Bella. You are my daughter, and the only thing I am concerned about is your safety." I understood that, but I had been telling him I was safe.

"Edward, Jasper, could you boys step out for a second so we can talk to our daughter in private."

They nodded. Edward squeezed my hand before he stood up, and with out a word the boys walked out onto the front porch.

"Bella, look at me." I looked over at my dad.

"You need to tell me right now… has anything ever happened between Edward and you." I started to tell them no again, but before I could, he stopped me. "I need you to understand that if anything has happened, it's not your fault and you won't be in trouble. You don't need to be scared, you just need to tell us the truth." He had gone into full cop mode.

"Dad." I had made sure to lean forward and look him directly in the eyes. "Edward has never, ever done one thing that could be considered inappropriate or abusive." I took a breath trying to keep the tears back. "I'm not scared of him and never have been." Charlie had taken a deep breath.

"Alright, that's all I needed to hear. You know you could come to us with anything right?" I loved my parents; I knew they would see the truth. I reassured him that I would always come to them.

"Okay, well go get him, I'm sure he's out there about to piss his pants," Charlie added, with a laugh. I walked to the front door, and when I saw Edward I felt so bad. Charlie's assumption wasn't too far off; he looked pale and terrified. He was sitting on the top step with his head in one hand. Jasper had his hand on his shoulder in comfort. When they heard the door open, both of their heads popped up. I told them they could come back in.

The three of us resumed our original spots in the room; Edward and I on the couch, and Jasper sitting on the steps of the stairs.

"Well, since you're still here and breathing, I guess you know I believe Bella," Charlie had said, staring into Edward's eyes.

"Thank you, Charlie. I hope you know I would never hurt Bella."

"I hope, for your sake, that's true." Even though Charlie had believed us, I knew he didn't even like thinking that a man hitting me was a possibility. Edward just nodded.

"Well, we need to figure out what were going to do about this mess." I was so glad to hear Dad say "we". I knew he would try to help us.

"Can't we call the cops on him? He lied, isn't that illegal?" I wanted to see Em get into so much trouble.

"Sorry, Bells, you can't prove it was him; the school will never give his name." Charlie said shaking his head.

"Edward, have you seen him yet?" Mom spoke up and asked.

"Uh, no. I was going to go there after we left here; we wanted to speak to you guys first," My mom nodded in appreciation.

"Renee, I think you should call Mr. Banner before they call us. Let's just put this to rest, and then we need to call Edward's parents; this has gotten out of hand."

I loved that even though he was sick, Charlie still had taken control and handled the situation. Mom jumped up to get the phone to call Mr. Banner.

"Wait!" I said, before she could call him. Everyone in the room turned to look at me because of my outburst.

"I can't go back there; I am so embarrassed, I can't go back there. I won't." I couldn't face all of them again. I knew the rumors were probably already out of control.

Mom sat back down, and she and Dad were giving each other a knowing look. Mom was the first to speak up,

"Here's the deal, Bella. We went to the doctor this morning," My head shot up, as did Edward's. Through all of the drama, we both had forgotten about the important appointment they had that morning. "They found a match," she said with a big smile.

We both jumped up and hugged them; that overshadowed anything else that had happened that day. I was hugging my mom, and I felt a warm body on my back. I saw my mom's eyes go kinda wide. I turned, and stepped out of the embrace I was receiving, and came face to face with a very sheepish looking Jasper, who was stepping back quickly.

"Uh, well you all seem so damn happy, I wanted to jump in too."

We all started laughing. Leave it to Jasper to do something stupid like that. After all the celebrating over the good news, they had given us some more details. The donor was a woman, and was a hundred percent match; it would take place about a week or so after that, when they received the bone marrow, and it was coming from Germany. I was so happy.

"We were actually really scared to tell you the next part, Bella. We have been wrestling with this decision all morning, but now you may be happy about it. Our insurance doesn't cover the entire transplant, so after this quarter we weren't going to be able to afford your school."

They were going to have to pull me out anyway. I didn't really think they would let me leave but they didn't have a choice now.

"That's great!" I was thrilled. I never wanted to go back there. Before that day, I would have been devastated by having to leave but after that, there was nothing I wanted more.

"We would never condone you running from your problems, but since you are going to have to leave in a month anyway, I don't see any harm in you switching now. Ok, well, I guess I'll call Mr. Banner and discuss this as well."

She got up and walked into the kitchen.

"So, wait, does that mean you will go to my school?" Edward had asked, with a goofy grin. I just nodded my smile probably matching his own.

"Saweeeet!" Jasper yelled behind us. "Swanster's gonna come slum it at the public school with us!"

"Who are you again?" Charlie asked, looking at Jasper like he had two heads.

Edward and I laughed and explained in more detail about how we knew Jasper, and Jasper had managed to talk to Charlie without saying anything too stupid. When mom came back in, she said that Mr. Banner understood. She had also asked if Alice could retrieve my things so I didn't have to go back. She said she could not get a hold of Edward's parents, but left a message that they needed to talk. After finding out that my Dad was going to get his transplant, none of the other stuff that happened that day seemed to matter to me anymore.

We were getting ready to leave. Edward had wanted to try to find his parents, to do damage control, and we were all worried about how his dad would react. Because of everything that had happened, Edward was forced to open up to my parents about what his home life was like. Jasper just sat there with his mouth open in shock. We were walking out the door when dad stopped us.

"Edward." He turned to look at my dad.

"You can come to us for help any time."

"Thank you, Charlie, that means a lot." I could tell that Edward was not used to having anyone in his court to back him up. His parents were always against him. After that, Charlie still had one more thing to say.

"I know you're mad, and I am pissed too, but going and picking a fight with your brother will not help this situation. Renee left a message for you mom; let the adults handle it." Charlie was right, but we both knew Edward was not gonna let this go. To prove my point, Edward said nothing back to him about it, he just congratulated him again on the transplant and walked out the door.


That conversation had happened about an hour before the three of us were sitting on the front porch of the Masen home. If you looked at Edward's bloody knuckles, you would obviously know that Edward didn't take Charlie's advice. I didn't like violence and didn't like seeing Edward that way, but I can't say I blamed him.

Jasper's phone rang. It was Alice; I could hear him telling her the story in the background. I could then hear her screeching through the phone, she was pissed. Edward and I decided that it was best that I not be there when his parents got home. Alice came to pick up Jasper and me. Jasper convinced Alice to stay in the car and not go after Emmett, too; I bet Alice could be even scarier than Edward. Jasper waited in the car while I said goodbye to Edward.

"I'm so sorry, baby," he said again, kissing my forehead.

"You have nothing to be sorry for Edward, stop apologizing." He could not feel guilty for something his brother did. "Will you call me tonight, after you talk to your parents?" I was terrified to leave him there alone; his mom always took Emmett's side and his dad was just an angry, awful man.

"Yeah, I'll call you, but don't worry about me." Yeah, like that was possible.

We kissed goodbye for as long as we could, until Alice honked her horn, obviously ready to leave. We both rolled our eyes, and Edward waved to her. We kissed one last time and told each other "I love you". It made me giddy to say it. Then I went to her car. Jasper crawled into the back, letting me sit up front.

Alice gave me a huge hug, and she started telling me how sorry she was and I just cut her off. I didn't want to talk about it anymore. Instead, I told her about the transplant. She was so happy and wanted to go see Mom and Dad right away. I was scared to tell her about switching schools; I knew she would be crushed. I didn't have to tell her, though, because big mouth Whitlock did it for me,

"Oh and B. Swanie is gonna go to school with Edward and me!" Thanks for telling her gently Jasper, God.

"What!" she screamed, slamming on her brakes.

"Alice, you're gonna get us in a wreck!"

God, she wasn't a good driver as it was, let alone when she was upset. I talked her in to getting us home before we talked about it anymore. When we got to my house, Jasper came inside with us. Alice did the whole celebration with us again about the transplant, and then Charlie asked about what happened between Edward and Emmett.

"You should have seen it Chuck, Edward was all…then Emmett was all." Jasper was jumping around the room trying to reenact the fight all by himself; probably the funniest thing I have ever seen.

My dad yelled his name, in order to stop his one-man show, and then warned him to never call him "Chuck" again. He said it while laughing, so I don't think he was really mad. Charlie made it clear that he didn't approve of the violence, but I think that secretly he was glad that someone took care of Emmett for hurting me. Alice and I talked about why I was switching schools, and that is wasn't just because of what happened but also because my parents couldn't afford the private tuition. She was upset that we wouldn't be at school together anymore, but she understood.

They stayed just a little longer and then headed out. Not too long after they left Edward's mom called my mom back. I was hovering over her, trying to hear the conversation 'cause I hadn't heard from Edward yet. My mom rarely got upset, and it took a lot when she did. Whatever Edward's mom was saying to her was definitely pissing her off. They talked for a little longer and when my mom got off the phone, she was beet red.

"That woman, I swear!" She slammed the phone down, and was pacing back and forth.

"She just won't listen to reason! She says 'Emmett is a sweet boy who would never do something like that'. She has her head so far up her…..never mind," she finished, frustrated.

"Edward has said that his mom and Em are really close, and that she always takes his side," I informed them.

"Well, it sure looks like it." Mom didn't usually get that mad.

"Well, Bella, I really don't want you over at that house if they are not even willing to talk to Emmett about what happened. You and Edward can hang out here, or go out, but I don't want you around… that." I couldn't blame my mom for feeling that way; we didn't go over there much anyway.

"Yeah, and after what I heard about his dad, I really don't want you around them at all," Dad added.

"That's fine; Edward won't let me around his dad, and doesn't like being there, anyway."

After thinking about Edward, I thought again about how I still hadn't heard from him, and I was starting to worry. Mom and Dad had to get to the hospital. We decided we would go to the public school the next day and I would probably start a few days later.

It wasn't until about nine o'clock that night that I finally heard from Edward. He said that his dad couldn't care less about the fight, but was pissed he missed practice. He didn't know yet how much trouble he would be in over it. His mom, on the other hand, ate up everything Em said. Emmett told her that he was our "number one supporter", and that his and my friendship was no different from before. Edward said it took everything in him to not try to beat him again.

His mom said she thinks that Edward has a violent personality and was going to talk to some of her doctor friends at the hospital about what kind of medicine she could put him on. I felt so bad for him; it was hopeless. His mom would not believe anything other than what she wanted to. Edward was right before, when he said that she was irrational and unreasonable.

The only thing that I was happy about, was that, so far, he didn't seem to be in too much trouble. His dad was leaving town again the next day for over two weeks, so at least he couldn't torture Edward daily. His mom… well, the only reason she wouldn't ground him for the fight, to me, was because deep down she knew that Emmett did do it.

If nothing else, we would get to see each other everyday at school. The transplant was the following week, Edward told me he loved me, and I was actively ignoring the negativity of the day. I was going to focus on the future and take it one day at a time.