I know that it's bean a while since I updated. Sorry about that, and I'll try to do better on updates.

Enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 13- Pain

~Edward POV~

I wasn't thrilled when Bella pretty much ordered me to go hunting and even got Jazz and Em to force to go. I have to admit that it was a good thing she did that. I really did need to hunt. I feel a whole lot better now.

"See, bro!" Emmett slapped me on the back. "You needed this."

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, I know, Emmett. I'm not completely stupid."

"That's debatable. I mean, it took Bella kicking you out of the house for you to finally get out hunting." Emmett pointed out.

"Besides, you hadn't hunted since the day I found Bella. With all the stress that you've been under, you needed a good hunt long before now, Edward." Jasper told me.

"So sue me for wanting to be with Bella while she was fighting for her life." I snapped.

Jasper raised his hands. "I don't mean anything by it, Edward. I'm just saying that you need to start keeping up with your hunting now that Bella is home. You know that she is in good hands at the house."

I sighed. "I know. I know."

Emmett snickered. "With Bella here, I don't think that there's much of a chance of that happening. You are way beyond whipped, bro."

"I am not whipped!" I retorted.

"Yeah, right. If Bella said jump, you'd say how high. You're as whipped as Carlisle, Jazz, and I are." Emmett told me.

"He's right. You should know from our relationships that the women rule and we superficial men do as they say." Jasper stated.

"Or we don't get any bedroom action." Emmett finished.

I didn't want to admit it, but I knew that they were right.

Emmett started laughing. "He knows it!"

I glared at him. I hated it when Emmett was right because he wouldn't let me live this down for the next ten decades.

~Carlisle POV~

I walked into my house after a long day at work to find my wife and my two vampire daughters in the living room sitting on the couch.

What surprised me about them was the fact that all three had somber demeanors about them. That was unusual, especially for Alice who was normally jubilant.

I glanced around and smelled the air before I asked my question. "Where are the boys?"

"Hunting. Bella asked Emmett and Jasper to take him hunting since she knew that he needed a hunt badly." Esme answered.

I scanned each of their faces carefully before I asked my next question. "What's wrong?"

All three looked at each before they looked back at me, as if they were silently asking each other if they should tell me.

Some form of communication that women seemed to be able to pull off with each other.

My thoughts then turned to my youngest daughter, and I instantly became fearful for her health. "Is it Bella? Is she all right? Do I need to check on her?" I was already heading for the stairs.

Esme was up and by my side quickly. "Bella's fine, Carlisle. She's sleeping right now."

I looked at my wife carefully. I knew her better than she knew herself, so I knew that there was something very wrong. "Then what has happened? Something has made all three of you very somber, and I would like to know why."

Esme seemed to hesitate before she started. "Bella has a nightmare and then an emotional meltdown."

This alarmed me. I knew that something like this was very serious.

Esme then told me what had happened while I was at the hospital, starting with Bella ordering Edward to go hunt and ending with everything that had happened to Bella while we had been gone.

It bothered me that Bella went through all of this alone with no one there to help her, but at the same time I knew that it was a good thing that Bella had talked about it and was no longer keeping everything bottled up inside.

"We shouldn't have left. We should never have listened to that jackass. It did more harm than good." Rosalie growled.

"Rosalie! Do not talk about your brother that way!" Esme scolded.

"I'm sorry, but it's the truth. Edward was the one who was so insistent that we leave. He's the one who said that it was for Bella's own safety that we leave. I hardly consider everything that she has went through good! Especially us leaving!" Rosalie retorted.

Alice walked over and placed a hand on Rosalie's shoulder. "It's not anyone's fault, Rose. We can't change the past, but we can make sure that Bella never goes through any of this again."

"Alice is right." I added.

Rosalie groaned. "Oh, all right."

"Carlisle, is it good or bad that Bella broke down the way she did?" Alice asked me worriedly.

"It's more good. Bella has been going through a lot, and the fact that she has talked about what happened to her in the time we were gone is good because she is not keeping everything bottled up. That would be much worse." I answered.

Rosalie was picking at her nails. "Should we tell Edward what Bella told us?"

"No. That's Bella's place." Esme replied firmly.

"I agree. Something like this needs to come from Bella. Guard your thoughts when the boys get back. We don't want to let Edward in on what's happening." I warned.

All three of the nodded their heads in agreement, knowing how important this was.

~Jasper POV~

I was glad that Edward finally went out to go hunting with Emmett and me, even if the only reason he came was because of the threat that Bella made against him.

Emmett was disappointed that he didn't get the chance to drag Edward out hunting.

It was a relief to me when Edward had hunting and his thirst had abated. I could feel how bad Edward's thirst was getting because I could feel it. With Edward sated, it wasn't as bad for me.

Since Bella wasn't around, I figured that this was the best time to broach what I consider to be a very sensitive subject with Edward.

"Edward, there's an issue that I think we need to talk about." I told him.

Edward glanced over at me. "Like what?"

"Victoria."

The name caused a grown and then a hiss to erupt from Edward.

"You know that Victoria isn't going to give up that easily, Edward. You know what she's going to keep coming after Bella until she finally gets Bella or we kill her." I reminded him.

"Let her. We'll take care of her and show her that no one messes with Bella without messing with the entire family. We won't have a thing to worry about then." Emmett stated, flexing his muscles.

"Emmett," I sighed, "it's not as simple as that. Victoria is crafty, and she's not going to be as easy to kill as we would like her to be. Besides, we don't even know if she has anyone helping her. We have to be prepared for anything."

"I know all that, Jazz. Believe me. Victoria is one problem that I am not going to be forgetting any time soon. She killed Charlie and then she tried to kill Bella. It's not something I'm going to forget." Edward growled, clenching his fists.

I held up my hands. "I'm just reminding you that we have to deal with her. We can't get too relaxed right now."

"I won't." Edward stated firmly.

And I knew that he was telling the truth. With Victoria after Bella, there was no way that Edward was going to forget the Victoria problem.

"Come on. Let's get back home if we're done hunting." Emmett stated.

We all then ran back to where the car was.

~Edward POV~

I was glad that we were going home.

As much as I trusted Esme, Alice, and Rosalie to take care of Bella, I would feel a lot better when I was able to see her again.

Jasper sighed, exasperated. "Edward, for the love of all that's holy, please stop worrying! Bella is fine! You know that!"

I smiled at Jasper apologetically. "I know hat, Jazz. I'll just feel a lot better when I can see her again.""It's not the different than us, Jazz. I mean, we miss Rose and Alice like crazy when we go on hunting trips without them, so no real diff there." Emmet pointed out from behind the wheel.

"I have more to worry about because Bella is human, and she can hurt a lot easier than Rose and Alice can." I added.

"Yeah. As clumsy as she is, no telling how bad she could hurt herself." Emmett laughed.

"Believe me. I know how much you worry." Jasper muttered.

"Sorry, Jazz." I apologized.

The house soon came into view, and Emmett used the garage door opener to open the garage door, and he pulled the car into the garage. The three of us then got out of the car and headed into the house.

"The whole family is here." Emmett stated.

"We were the only ones gone, Em." Jasper pointed put as we walked into the main part of the house.

Esme was busy looking over the building plans for a house that she was designing.

Alice was shopping online. Big surprise.

Rosalie was watching some movie on Lifetime that she has seen a hundred times at least.

Carlisle, as usual, was reading a new medical journal.

I noticed that all four of them seemed to be trying to block their thoughts from me.

At the time, I couldn't be bothered to try and find out why they were blocking me. I was too concerned with seeing my Bella.

I walked into my room to see that Bella was lying on her side on the bed, still asleep. I sat on the bed gently so that I didn't jostle her. I lay down by her and gently pulled her into my arms, letting her sleep as long as she needed to.

~Rosalie POV~

The second that Edward had shut the door to his room, Carlisle glanced over at me and Alice, signaling that it was time for us to get our husbands out of the house and tell them what Bella had said.

I turned off the TV and stood up. "Come on, Emmett. You've been gone for a while, and I want to spend a little time alone with you." I made sure that the only thoughts I had were ones of me and Emmett going at it like rabbits.

The groan that Edward let out from upstairs told met hat he had no idea what I really had in mind.

Emmett's face lit up. "Sure thing, Rosie! Let's go!" Sex was the only thing Emmett needed to hear in order to get him out of the house.

"We're going, too, Jazzy!" Alice told him cheerfully.

Before jasper could question it, Alice skipped over to him and grabbed him the hand before she practically dragged him out the door.

Emmett looked confused. He had never seen Alice drag Jasper off that quickly.

"Come on, Emmett. Let's get going." I told him, forcing Emmett out the door.

Alice and I took our husbands far enough away from the house that Edward wouldn't be able to hear us talking or hear our thoughts.

"This is new, babe. You've never wanted anyone to join us before. It's always just us." Emmett remarked.

I saw red! I was going to kill him for that!

Jasper then slapped Emmett in the back of the head.

"Ow!" Emmett rubbed the back of his head before turning to glare at Jasper. "What the hell was that for?"

"Thank you, Jasper." I told him.

"I don't get it. Why did you hit me?" Emmett then looked at me. "And why did you thank him for doing that to me?"

"Emmett! Rose and Alive brought us out here so that they could tell us something that they don't want Edward to overhear! They didn't bring us all the way out here to have sex!" Jasper snapped.

"You did?" Emmett asked, looking at us.

"Yeah. We found out something about Bella while you guys were out hunting. We're telling you, but Bella is going to tell Edward." Alice explained.

"Well, what is it?" Emmett asked.

Alice and I started to tell our husbands everything that we had learned from Bella from listening to her conversation with Esme.

It was easy to tell that Jasper and Emmett were both shocked by what they were told.

"All right! That does it! Edward is a dead vampire now! No way he's getting away with letting my little sister go through all of this alone!" Emmett snarled, starting for the house.

"Emmett McCarty Cullen! Get your ass back here right now!" I growled.

Emmett stopped and turned to face me. "But Rosie-" Emmett started.

"Don't but Rosie me! You are not saying a word to Edward because Bella is the one that's going to tell Edward all of this. Besides, you're not going to kill him because that would hurt Bella, and there's no way that this family is going to ever hurt Bella again." I snarled.

Emmett backed up. He knew not to cross me.

Jasper shook his head. "Edward might have had good intentions when he left, but it did Bella no good. If anything, our leaving did a great deal more harm than good."

"Yeah. When Bella broke down, it was hard listening to her tell us everything. I'm glad that Esme was there to calm her down. It was heartbreaking to hear her." Alice stated.

I glanced over at Jasper. "You might want to be thankful that you weren't there. I don't think that you could handle the emotions that Bella felt."

Jasper grimaced at the mere thought.

"So, what do we do now?" Emmett asked.

"We wait. Esme and Carlisle can shield their thoughts, but we have a harder time doing that. We'd better just stay put. We don't want Edward finding out before Bella tells him." I stated.

"Let's just hope that Edward doesn't beat himself up over this too much." Jasper stated.

We all knew about Edward's knack for blaming himself for something that was really out of his hands.

~Bella POV~

Slowly, I opened my eyes and looked up at the sky.

It was a bright, sunny morning. I couldn't be sure, but I had a feeling that there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

Which meant that there were going to be seven sparkling vampires in the house.

"Good morning." a musical voice greeted.

I jumped slightly and turned around to find Edward sitting beside me.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you." Edward told me.

As I expected, he was sparkling.

"I suppose I'll be seeing all of you sparkle most of the day." I stated.

Edward smirked. "Now you know why we spend days like this hunting. We can't be seen by humans on this day." He paused a moment. "Well, any human besides you."

I noticed that his eyes were now gold, not black. "I'm glad that you did as I asked and hunted."

Edward scowled. "Well, my brothers didn't give me much of a choice, not thanks to you."

I laughed. "You needed to hunt. You can't deny that, Edward."

"I know. I know." Edward sighed.

I knew that he hated when I was right, but I knew that I was. I couldn't let him starve because of me. Besides, I was fine without him for a few hours.

"How are you feeling this morning?" Edward asked.

"I'm okay." I then remembered the nightmare that I had had the night before, my breakdown, and spilling my guts to Esme. "Did you talk to Esme when you got back?"

Edward looked over at me, as if he was wondering why I had asked that. "Yes. She said that you were fine."She didn't tell him.

"Rose and Alice were quick to grab Em and Jazz to get them out of the house, and they haven't come back. Esme left this morning when Carlisle did." Edward told me.

"So, we're alone." I ventured.

"Yes."

Well, I knew why we were alone. They were giving me the chance to tell Edward everything that I had told Esme. I knew that I needed to. Besides, if I didn't tell Edward, I was sure that Esme would have.

Edward frowned. "Bella, is there something that everyone else knows that I don't? I know that Carlisle and Esme were blocking their thoughts."

I had a feeling that Esme had told Carlisle everything, and I was fairly certain that Rose and Alice had told Emmett and Jasper what I had said as well.

"Bella?" Edward questioned. He was worried. I could tell that. It seemed to be all he did where I was concerned lately. I knew that I needed to tell him, but I was worried about how he would take it.

I sighed. "Yes, Edward. There is something that you need to know. Esme, Alice, and Rosalie found out last night. I'm sure that they told Carlisle, Jasper, and Emmett."

"Any reason they didn't want me to hear?" Edward asked.

"Because they knew that I needed to be the one to tell you."

"So, what's going on?"

I was hesitant to tell him. I knew that this was going to hurt him, and the last thing that I wanted to do was hurt him.

Edward looked at me worriedly. "Bella, what's going on?"

I took a deep breath before I told Edward everything that I had told Esme, not leaving anything out. By the time I was done, I was crying again.

Edward wrapped his arms around me and gently pulled me to him. "I'm sorry, Bella. I'm so sorry." Edward murmured into my hair.

I just held onto Edward like my life depended on it. In a way, it did. I really didn't have any family left now. The Cullens were the only family that I had left.

~Edward POV~

Idiot.

Stupid.

Ignorant.

Selfish.

Bastard.

Asshole.

All of these were terms that I could use to describe myself right about now. They all fit because I have been all of those things in all of this.

Bella has been hurting so much because of so many different things that have happened, and there was no one there to help her through these things. She had had Charlie to help her through her mother and stepfather's deaths, but she had had no one to help her through her father's death or after.

And what I had done had turned her comatose.

Now, I wish that Emmett would come barreling through the door ad pummel me into nothing. It's what I deserve.

The door to the room was suddenly slammed opened, causing Bella to jump in my arms. Emmett stood there, glaring at me.

Be careful what you wish for.

"You are so dead!" Emmett growled.

"Emmett, don't." Bella begged.

A moment later, Rosalie was in front of her husband. "Emmett McCarty Cullen! I told you that you aren't doing anything!"

"But Rosie-" Emmett started.

"Don't but me! Go! Now!" Rosalie ordered. She then pushed Emmett backwards out of the room.

I winced at the loud crash.

There went part of the wall. Esme was not going to be happy about this.

Rosalie looked back at me and Bella. "Sorry about that. I'll get him out of here, and once he calms down, I'll get him to replace the door." She then left and I heard her struggling to get Emmett down the stairs, which is a feat in itself when you consider the fact that Emmett is like a wild bear when he's mad.

I sighed. "Emmett had every right to want to kill me."I then felt Bella's warm hand on my cheek. I looked up into her brown eyes.

"Don't, Edward. Don't blame yourself." Bella told me softly.

"You wouldn't have had to go through so much if I had still been here, Bella." I stated.

"Edward, that's in the past. You're here now, and that's what matters." Bella said.

"You're right." I agreed as I hugged her.

Bella hugged me back.

I know that I wouldn't forgive myself for this hat easily, but I could at least be here for Bella now.

And that's what matters.

Hope you liked it.

Next: Just about Bella getting better and some family moments.

R&R.