Chapter 13: Dance
December 14, 2006

EPOV

"Oh my goodness, Daddy. Do you want to hear a funny story?" Liam asked over the phone.

I smiled at his excitement. "I would love to hear your funny story."

"Well I was on the bus with my friend Chip, like potato chips you know?" I laughed, and he continued. "Well we were on the bus, waiting to leave and our bus driver, Dave, farted!" He was cracking up laughing now, almost unable to form another sentence. "He farted so loud, Daddy. And it smelt so bad."

I found this amusing just because he did. Now, as an adult, I thought it was actually quite disgusting, but I was once a little boy, and for some reason, farts are pretty fucking funny to the young male. "That is gross, buddy." I said while chuckling.

"I know, but so funny!" I laughed as I turned the car into the parking lot of the office I was going to. "When will you be home, Daddy. Me and Mommy miss you."

"I will be home in a couple of hours, Liam. Do you have any special requests for dinner?" Today was Thursday, and I usually bought some take out for us on Thursdays. I don't even know why I asked, because I already knew what he was going to say.

"Pizza!" I laughed as I pulled into a parking spot.

"Alright, pizza it is. Where is your Mom?" I turned the engine off, and started to get out of the car.

"She said she was thirsty so she went to the kitchen." Yeah…thirsty. It was about four in the afternoon now, and was the normal time for Bella to start drinking. Ever since Liam's first day of school, she stopped drinking when he was in school, but I arranged for the bus to drop him off after school just in case.

"Okay, well I have to go, but I will be home soon. Love you, bud."

"Love you too, Daddy!" We hung up, and I walked to the front door of the therapist's office. Her name written on the front door; Dr. Julia Freeman. It took me months to find a therapist that I thought would be good for Bella, and would have the potential to possibly help her. I heard a lot about Dr. Freeman, and she specialized with helping addiction patients. She had the most successful cases in the area, and I arranged a meeting with her just to hear what she has to say, and go with my gut in finding out if she would be able to help.

I walked up to the front desk, where an older woman was sitting, typing away on her computer. She looked up to me and smiled. "Hello, are you here for an appointment?"

"Well more like a meeting, my name is Edward Cullen."

"Ah yes, Mr. Cullen. She said to just send you right in." I nodded my head and thanked her before walking to the door with Dr. Freeman's name on it. I knocked, and heard her say come in. I opened the door, and it looked like my office. It was smaller than mine, but it was simple. A desk, chairs, and a couch. Dr. Freeman was standing behind her desk, and giving me a warm smile. She was younger than I expected; maybe mid thirties. She had blonde hair pulled into a sophisticated bun; dark rimmed glasses perched on her nose. She stepped around her desk and held her hand out to me.

"Hello, you must be Mr. Cullen." I nodded my head and shook her hand.

"Uh…yeah that's me. It is nice to meet you Dr. Freeman."

"Oh you can call me Julia. All of my patients call me that, it puts me on their level a little." I nodded my head again, because I was really fucking nervous. I wanted so badly for Bella to get better, and I think the best way to do that is by therapy.

"Well then call me Edward." I replied.

She smiled. "Okay Edward, why don't you follow me. I don't do my sessions in here." I nodded my head, and she led me through the door on the far left wall of her office. On the other side of the door was more like a therapist's room. It was actually very nice. One whole wall was just a big window, really. On the other side of the window were bushes and flowers, it really was beautiful. The room looked like a living room without a TV. Warm reds, browns, and beige colors all around me. It was very nice.

"This is really nice." I said.

She smiled. "Thank you, I was going for the comfortable feel."

"It works."

"Okay so why don't we talk." She sat down on what I assumed was her chair. I walked to the couch that was in front of her. "So we only talked briefly on the phone, but you aren't here to schedule appointments for yourself, is that right?"

I wiped my sweating hands on my pants. I don't know why I was nervous, but I was. "Yeah, I am here for my wife. My wife Bella."

"Bella. Okay, well why do you think Bella needs to see a therapist such as myself?"

I cleared my throat. I really fucking hated saying this shit out loud. "She is an alcoholic."

She nodded her head in understanding. "So what happened to make you finally look into therapy?"

"Um, she won't go into rehab, and I…um…I can't help her."

"Why is that, do you think?" She asked; sounding like what I said surprised her somehow.

My voice cracked as I said the words. I don't know why I was getting so emotional. I wasn't even here for an appointment. I wasn't the one who needed help right now. "Because I love her."

"Oh Edward, I didn't mean to make this into a therapy session for you, I was just curious as to what I will be working with so I could let you know how I am going to go about this."

"I know." I took a deep breath to get my emotions under control. "I'm sorry; it has just been really hard."

She nodded her head in understanding. "I know it is, Edward. Addiction doesn't only affect the person addicted, but it often hurts the ones closest to them." I only nodded my head, sure it was hard on me, but I would be better when she was. "And I understand you have a son also?"

"Yes, Liam. He is 4."

"And does he know what is going on? With his mother, I mean."

"Uh…no. I mean he noticed her getting sick at night, but I just told her she had a stomach ache. He doesn't really understand that she is addicted to alcohol or anything."

She nodded her head again. "I am more than willing to take Bella as my patient, Edward. I think you should know that I myself was an alcoholic."

My head shot up to hers. "You were?"

"Yup. It is a horrible, horrible thing for anyone to go through. But I think you should also know that my father was an alcoholic also, so I know what it is like watching someone you love slowly killing themselves." I had to look away from her at her last words, it all became too real. I know alcohol could end up killing Bella, but I just can't let that happen. "I know how frustrating it is to just want to yell at them to stop. It seems simple to everyone else. If they want their life back, all they have to do is stop drinking. That is how I thought once, until it was me on the other side of it. It is not that simple, I can tell you that right now. Me getting sober was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life."

"I can only imagine."

"No offense, Edward, but you can't. You can't imagine. Alcoholism is more than just physically picking up a drink and consuming it. It is also in your head and your whole body. It takes over you, and no matter how much an alcoholic knows they shouldn't be doing it, or how much they see it is hurting those around them, they are defenseless. The only time they are able to finally take charge of it is when they want to get help."

"But how do I do that? How do I get her to want to get help?" I asked desperately. Everything she said made sense, but it wasn't doing much to ease my mind.

"You are doing it right now. By her coming to see me, I will guide her to that state of mind. She will probably just need some time to sort through everything in her head." I nodded my head. She leaned forward on her chair. "Do you remember earlier when you told me you wouldn't be able to help Bella because you love her?" I nodded my head. "Again, I don't want to make this seem like a therapy session for you, but what makes you think you can't help her?"

I didn't even have to think about it. "Whenever I try to be tough with her, or do something that I know in my head is what will help her, I always end up giving into her. I always want to give her everything she wants and then when she starts crying I…" I had to stop because my voice was cracking and I was going to start crying like a baby.

"It's okay, Edward. I get what you are saying. But I want to let you know, that if you decide that you want to try and get Bella to come see me, I would also like to maybe have a couple of sessions with you."

"You don't need to waste your time on me; she is what matters right now."

"You may think that now, but in time I think you will figure out that you may also need some help."

"Hey Daddy, look at me!" I was getting a face cloth and towel from the cabinet near the bathtub for Liam when he was done. I looked up at him, and he splashed me in the face. He started laughing loudly, and I laughed with him while wiping the water out of my eyes.

"You little punk!" I said while laughing. I picked up the cup in the tub, filled it with water, and poured it over his head. He started laughing some more and wiped the water from his eyes as well.

"I only splashed you a little bit Daddy!"

"But I am dry….well I was dry." He laughed some more, and then yawned loudly. "You tired buddy?"

"Yeah, kindergarten is a lot of work."

I laughed, and squeezed some shampoo in my hands. "Well what did you do today? Didn't you take a nap?" I brought the shampoo to his brown hair, and started cleaning it.

"I was laying down, but I couldn't fall asleep!" He yawned again as I was massaging the shampoo in his hair. "I sleep better when Mommy rubs my back."

I smiled and got the cup filled again. He immediately put his head back so I could rinse the shampoo out of his hair. "Yeah, your Mom is pretty special, huh?"

"The bestest Mommy ever." I finished rinsing his hair and smiled, happy that Liam saw in Bella what I saw, and what the people who really knew her saw. He didn't see her as an alcoholic, but it seems like that is all other people do see. They don't understand what Bella had to go through to get to this point in her life. Sure she has her problems, alcoholism being the biggest one, but she is also a good person and a good mother. I don't think anyone can fault her for that.

I stepped out of the bathroom after I showered, got my pajama's on, and brushed my teeth; I was so ready for bed. I walked to Liam's cracked open door, and saw him already sleeping with his hands behind his head. I smiled and walked down the hall to mine and Bella's room. I could hear soft music coming from our room. That's weird. The door was open, and I walked in to see Bella swaying in the corner of the room. She was swaying her hips with her hands in the air twirling them around gracefully. Bella was a very clumsy person, but she could dance. She could dance way better than I could. I had no rhythm, and I dance like the fucking tin man.

I walked through the door, and Bella turned around and smiled at me. "Come dance with me, baby." She said with a smile. Usually I would say no to her because she is drunk, but I just couldn't today. This whole week, I have probably seen her a total of six hours. I have been working extra late since I was working back up to that promotion. Mitchell was disappointed in me that I didn't make it to that meeting, but he also understood it was a personal issue. So I have been working my ass off to get that opportunity again. Anyways, I have been working a lot lately, and I missed my wife. Plus, even my Bella has been having a hard time since I had to tell her about the court date on Valentine's Day. She cried when she found out, and refused to believe it. We haven't seen Renee in three years, and Bella wanted to keep it that way. But now she had to see her, but she also had to do something that would make Renee even madder at her. I knew that day would be tough for her.

I smiled. "You know I can't dance, love." I put my dirty clothes in the hamper near the dresser.

"Oh you're not that bad, handsome. Come dance with me!" She said excitedly and grabbed my hands, bringing me to the part of the room that had the most room to dance. I wrapped my arms around her middle, and she wrapped her arms around my neck. We started moving around slowly, but I screwed it up when I stepped on her toe. Luckily we were both barefoot, so I didn't hurt her. We both started laughing. "Okay, I guess you are that bad." She said and I laughed.

"I told you!" I said laughing with her.

She kissed my lips, and I was reminded of the alcohol that was in her system by the smell of her breath, but I just pushed that back for now. I missed her, and I would take whatever I could right now. She rested her head on my shoulder, and I rested my cheek on the top of her hair, the both of us just kind of swaying from side to side, so I wouldn't cause anymore damage. Dancing wasn't that bad when I was with Bella. I learned that on our first dance…

~Flashback~

12 Years Old

"How about your green shirt? That will look so good with your eyes!" Esme said to Edward as they were talking about the middle school dance that was just two nights away.

"I don't care; I'm a guy, Mom." Esme laughed and ruffled Edward's hair.

"But don't you want to look cute for Bella?"

"Ew Mom, Bella is not my date." Edward, Bella, Alice, and Emmett were all going to the dance together. It was only a 7th grade dance and there wasn't really that many couples going. It was more like an end of the year dance for all grades in middle school. Alice walked in the room with her dance dress on, she has been wearing it on and off since she got it last week. 'She just loved it' was her reasoning.

"Alice honey, you are going to get that dirty!"

Alice twirled in the pink dress. "No I won't! I just love it!"

"Oh my God Alice, we get it!" Emmett yelled from the living room. Edward and Esme laughed, while Alice just huffed. The doorbell rang and Edward jumped from the table, knowing it was Bella. He opened the door, and Bella was on the other side smiling.

"Hi Edward!" She said as she walked in.

"Hey Bella! Come on, let's go in my room."

"Okay, just let me go say hi to everyone." Edward rolled his eyes, and Bella went around and said hi to Alice, Emmett, and Esme. She was walking to Edward at the stairs when Esme called her name, Bella ran back to the kitchen, and Edward followed. "Yeah?" She asked when they got in.

"Do you have your dress already?" Esme asked.

Bella looked down at her hands. "Uh…no. I don't have to wear a dress right?"

"You have to wear a dress Bella! Everyone is going to be wearing a dress!" Alice said while still twirling in hers.

"Oh, well…um…I had some money, but one of my Mom's guy friends took it the other day so…" Bella didn't make eye contact with anyone. "But it is fine, it's not a big deal, I can just wear something else."

Esme looked at Bella sadly, and then her face turned determined. "No, we will go now. I will go buy you a dress, honey."

Bella looked up at Esme. "No, Esme really that is okay, I don't want you to spend any money on me."

"Oh that is nonsense honey, come on we can go now before dinner."

"Really?" Bella asked while looking up at Esme with hopeful eyes.

"Really! Come on we can all go!"

Bella ran to Esme and hugged her around the waist. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you, Esme! I promise I will do the dishes after dinner, I promise!"

"Oh you don't have to do that, honey." Esme said as she kissed the top of Bella's head. Edward never liked going shopping, but he was excited to see Bella excited, so he couldn't wait to go shopping.

Edward and Emmett were playing a video game on the couch while Alice and Bella were running around and twirling in their dresses after dinner. Alice's pink and Bella's blue. Edward was playing the video game, but he would sometimes sneak a peek at Bella as she twirled in her dress. Bella wasn't picky with finding her new dress, but she told Esme that she really liked blue dresses, so that was what they bought. After dinner, Alice and Bella both changed in their dresses and were getting excited for the dance.

"Bella! It is almost 8:30, almost time for you to go home!" Esme called from the kitchen.

"Okay!" She said and then ran upstairs to get changed again and Alice went with her. Bella came back down by herself wearing her sweatpants and t-shirt again with her dress in a bag. She went to say bye to Esme, and then came back in the living room to say bye to Emmett and Edward. Edward got up and walked with her to the door. "Don't you just love my dress?" She asked with a smile.

"Yeah, it looks pretty on you." Bella blushed and bit her lip. She wrapped her arms around Edward's neck.

"Thank you, I can't wait for this dance." She whispered in his ear. And now, neither could Edward.

The Dance

"Where is Bella? We need to go!" Alice whined as they were waiting for Bella in the living room.

"Can I go get her?" Edward asked Esme.

"Yes, go ahead, Edward." Esme said. Edward ran out the front door and ran over to Bella's house. His feet were feeling uncomfortable in his new black shiny shoes. He made it to the front door, and knocked rapidly. The door opened to reveal a really mad looking Renee.

"Bella!" She screamed. "Make this go away!" She screamed again, and walked away with a bottle of something in her hand. It took Bella a couple of seconds before she made it to the door. Edward gasped as Bella walked to the door. She had tear stains on her cheeks and she was sniffling as she walked to the door. But the most heartbreaking thing was the pieces of her blue dress that she had clutched in her hands. She had a needle and thread in her hand along with it, she was holding it with a shaking hand.

"Bella!" Edward whisper yelled. "What happened?"

"I am s-so s-s-stupid, Edward." She was trying to catch her breath between her cries and sniffles. "I forgot to clean the bathroom, I am so stupid."

"Bella…" Edward had a hard time speaking seeing Bella so torn up. "You are not stupid, what happened to your dress?"

She looked down at the dress. "I forgot to clean the bathroom." She said, as if that was a sound excuse.

"Your mother did this?" Edward asked.

"Yeah she used the scissors, but I am trying to sew it back together so your Mom can return it. I didn't mean to waste her money. But sewing is hard."

"Bella you don't have to worry about that." Edward said, tears coming to his eyes. He wanted to hurt Renee.

"Bella! GET RID OF IT!" Renee yelled from inside the house.

Bella seemed to panic and she pushed Edward away from the door. "You have to go, Edward."

"But I don't want to go to the dance without you, Bella." Bella kissed Edward's cheek quickly.

"Just go and have fun, I am so sorry. Tell Esme I am sorry."

"But Bella…."

"Take pictures so I can see them. You look really handsome." Edward did not want to leave Bella at all, but he knew if he tried to stay, Renee would have gotten even madder at Bella. Edward walked up to Bella, and wrapped his arms around her; she didn't hug him back though because she still had her torn dress clutched to her chest.

"I love you, Bella. You are going to come over tonight, right?" She nodded her head against his chest.

"Have fun." She said as they pulled away. Edward thought to himself that that was impossible now.

Edward waited by his window for Bella. It was 10:30, and he was expecting her at any time. They all got back from the dance about an hour ago, but everyone else was already sleeping. Edward was right when he knew he wouldn't have fun at the dance. He didn't. He mostly just stood against the wall, watching everyone else dance and talk. Alice and Emmett tried talking to him a couple of times, but they had their own friends they wanted to go with. Edward's friend wasn't there.

Edward opened the window when he saw Bella climbing up the tree. He immediately pulled her in. He hugged her around the waist tightly, and this time she hugged him back while crying into his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Bella." Edward said as he rubbed her back. "Did she hit you?" Bella nodded her head. "Where?" Bella pulled away and moved the collar of her shirt to show a bruise on her collar bone. Edward swept his fingers over the heated flesh before kissing it lightly. Bella tightened her grip around Edward's neck and they continued to hold each other.

"Did you have fun?" Bella asked as she pulled away.

Edward shook his head. "No."

"Well didn't you dance with anyone?"

"I danced with Tanya for one song, but it was boring."

"I really wanted to dance." Bella said.

"Well then let's dance then." Edward said.

"But I thought you thought it was boring."

"I don't care. Come on." Edward held her around her waist and Bella put her arms back around his neck. "We don't need music, but I am very bad at it."

Bella laughed. "That's okay." They started moving slowly around the room while they slow danced.

Edward pulled away from Bella quickly. "And now fast dance!" He said loudly, but not loud enough to wake anyone in the house. Bella laughed as Edward started dancing, if you could call it dancing. He actually looked kind of weird, but Bella appreciated his effort in getting her in a better mood. She laughed and started dancing fast with Edward. After a while Edward stopped and then took Bella back in his arms to dance slow. "I suck at dancing." Edward said with a laugh.

Bella rested her head on her best friend's chest. "You were perfect. Thank you."

~End Flashback~

I held on tighter to Bella thinking about that night. Renee always found a way to ruin things for Bella, and it was just not right. Then out of nowhere, Bella's legs collapsed under her, and I caught her before she hit the ground…she was sobbing. She was in the second stage right now, so the sudden mood change didn't exactly surprise me, but the reason for this sudden outburst of crying did concern me. I held her up and close to my chest.

"What is it, love? What's the matter?"

"I don't want to see her, Edward." She said, sounding so scared. "I don't want to see her."

I held her up, and brought her to the bed. I sat down on it, and held her in my lap. "I know you don't Bella, but you can do this, you are so strong. I will be right there with you."

"I know, but I'm scared." She clung tight to me, and I held her closer, I want her to feel some sort of security. I hate seeing her like this.

"I am going to be there, love. I am going to help you, don't worry about it okay?" She nodded her head, and started taking deep breaths to calm herself down. "I am going to help you."

Hopefully more than just helping her with the trial; I want to help her get her old self back completely.

So here is the thing, I am going to be updating every Monday and Friday from now on, well that will be my goal, but real life happens sometimes, so yeah.

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I hope you liked this chapter! I always get nervous whenever I post a chapter on this story for some reason, so I hope you liked it! Please review just to ease my mind! These past 4 chapters have had exactly 16 reviews, so do you think you could change that? If you haven't reviewed, please do! Even one word reviews make me so so happy, it means a lot that people would take the time to just write a little something something.

Next chapter is the trial and more about therapy!

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