So hi, umm, yeah, I apologise for the lateness. RL has been kicking me in the butt, too many exams, etc. Anyway, it finally is here. I hope you'll enjoy it and please remember to review :)

Thanks to Xx Bri xX for being a BRILLIANT editor and Mcc101180 for her dedication to betaing!! I love you both! To Becky (Juliamine) and Laura (LZTZ) for being there for me all the time on bbm! :P To those who added and talk to me on twitter, it's great getting to know you!

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart for those who have reviews! You totally deserve a kiss from Rob! (I assume you all like Rob, right?)

I also have a new blog, gossipb-abroad (dot) blogspot (dot) com for my Europe trip that is going to happen on the 30th of March, so go check it out if you're interested!

Thanks for reading and PLEASE don't forget to REVIEW!! I love hearing from you!! :)

Chapter 13: The Glass Comes Off

EPOV

Why is it that everything kept changing much too fast for me to comprehend? Why was it when I thought I had everything pegged, someone always managed to pull the rug out from under me?

More importantly though, why was I just now understanding what had happened in my life?

Regardless of the things I had learnt, I was pissed. I felt furious, nothing would have pleased me more than throwing my fist into something or someone, just so they could experience the anger, the resentment, and the annoyance I felt.

Was I the only one who didn't know about this? Why was I, one of the major players involved, the last one to know? And now, I had no idea what the fuck I was to do or how to get passed this.

*One hour ago*

"My turn," Rose said. "I guess I should get this over and done with," she muttered, seemingly more to herself than to us.

"You've heard the story of how I met Emmett, of course. It was at his club, blah, blah, you know it, right?" she asked, turning her head slightly so she could look at me.

I nodded. "Yes."

"It's not entirely true," Rose whispered. She shook her head, muttering something before expelling a gust of air. "In fact, most of it isn't true. Most of it is lies."

"What are you…?"

"Please," she begged with a quiet voice. "Just let me talk."

I nodded, waiting for her to continue. "The modeling, that's all true. But I got into some financial troubles, and I needed money, so I got it. I made…" she hesitated, her eyes tight. "I made some, bad decisions and got into debt with loan sharks."

"What?"

"I couldn't get out of it. They kept coming for their money, and it was money I never had, Edward. They gave me one last chance, but left me beaten and bloodied as a reminder of what would happen if I didn't get it to them in time."

"It was a huge thing. They bruised my face, my body, the thing I used to earn money, and I had to go to the hospital, I had no choice. I met Carlisle there; he was my doctor."

They shared a glance, her features softening. "He got the whole story out of me. I was high on Morphine, though. I couldn't be blamed."

"I offered her a job," Carlisle said, taking Rose's silence in stride. But the tremble in his voice made me curious, in a bad way.

Rose smiled at him, a small smile of sadness, or perhaps it was apprehension. "It was to become… a sitter of sorts." She smiled gently when I frowned. "For Esme," she clarified. "Sort of a weird, but necessary thing, I guess. It was to stop her from…acting the way she did."

I frowned, looking to Carlisle whose gaze was firmly fixed on Rose. "It was to make sure she didn't hurt herself, or you," she whispered.

"I needed money, and fast. And Carlisle offered to pay off my debts; he saved my life." Rosalie looked to Carlisle and all I could see was the adoration in her eyes.

Now I was getting frustrated. "You said to watch Esme….but why did you have to make sure Esme wouldn't hurt me?"

"Not you, specifically, you were just the most vulnerable."

"Excuse me?" I asked, truly offended.

Rose shook her head sadly, smiling in the same manner. For the first time, I didn't take it as sweet, it was condescending. "Edward, Esme manipulated you into lots of situation. So you, and your ego, will have to take that fact in stride. Esme was, is, ill. In some way, I guess she thought she could piggyback your fame."

"Esme may be a lot of things," I growled, completely pissed off that, yet again, I was the last to know these things. "And yes she is ill, but she is my mother, so if this was true, why wasn't I told?" I shouted.

"To protect you," she whispered quietly, still seemingly shocked.

I seethed. "I'm not a child!" I yelled, furiously. "I don't need anyone to protect me. What I need are people who don't lie to me, don't keep things from me- people who are fucking honest with me!"

"Edward," Carlisle warned.

I shot him the angriest glare I could muster. How dare he, the man that claimed to be my father, keep such things from me?

"Defend yourself," I snapped. "Fucking defend yourself!"

Carlisle sat back against his seat, his eyes cold but understanding. "I can't."

"I didn't think so."

"We did try, Edward. Your best intentions were always what we kept in mind," Rose interjected, her voice trembling slightly.

"I was afraid, we all were. Of losing the both of you…"

"Wait," I interrupted, shooting him a dubious glare. "What do you mean 'we all were'?"

Carlisle blanched, and shrunk back in his seat a little while Rose looked away from me, fidgeting nervously.

"What do you mean 'we all were'?" I shouted, angrily.

"Everyone else…" Carlisle whispered.

"You all knew, except for me?" Carlisle and Rose shared a glance, and both nodded softly, hesitantly.

I stood abruptly, sending the chair careening back against the wall. Bella stood quickly, so her arm wouldn't get yanked off as I walked towards the door.

"I'm done being made a fool of," I snapped. They both stared at me with the shocking expression on their faces. Not wanting to look at them, I led Bella out of the door, ignoring their calls for me.

The entire drive to Bella's condo was tense. She must have sensed that I needed to think because the entire trip was made in silence. But the moment my feet made it across the threshold, I felt light. It felt like the weight of the world was suddenly taken off my shoulders. It felt like I could relax again, and forget everything else going on in my life. It felt like a constant state of bliss.

As always though, reality eventually checked back in. Now here I was, dealing with all this bullshit, knowing that time, which already seemed so short, was closing in all too fast. All this crap reminds me of the things I wanted to doin life, before I die. I don't want to live the last two years of my life, in misery, finding out truth after truth that my family had kept a secret from me. It was, in that moment, more so than any other, that I realized that now was the time to be living, not dying. I don't want to die, knowing that I'm alone in this world. Even though Carlisle, Alice and Emmett constantly tell me that I'm their family, I don't feel like an equal member. Family doesn't keep secrets from each other. Well, not one this big anyway.

When you are a child, your view is marred by rose colored glasses, where the simple miracle of a rainbow is cherished. But then one day, the glasses come off. They start to see the world for what it is- vindictive, evil, sadistic, filled with hatred and anger, and it's sad.

Nothing is real, or true. It is, like everything else, a cover to protect the fucked up world we occupied. Nothing was easy, but maybe it was never meant to be easy.

"Hey," Bella whispered. "It's going to be alright."

I nodded, not entirely sure why though. I didn't believe it. Bella smiled slightly, her eyes kind. "Stay with me tonight?"

I nodded, and slowly rose from the couch, Bella's hands holding me steady. We walked into the bedroom quietly, stripped off our clothing and climbed into bed.

Even though my head was buried in the crook of her neck, for the first time in a long time, I cried as she held me fast.

"I love you," she continued to whisper. "I love you so much, Edward."

I let out a happy sigh. No, things weren't perfect, but at that moment, they were as good as they could get.

"I love you, Bella, you have no idea." I gasped, trying to hide my cries.

I'm going to miss you so much, Bella. You have no idea. You complete me, make me feel loved and comfort since the day I met you. What's going to happen, when I'm gone? Are you going to be alright? What's going to happen to us?

"We'll be okay," she whispered, tears filling her eyes. It was almost like she could read my mind.

For the first time, possible a little too late, I truly thought about life after death… just not mine.

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