Beta'd by HollettLA :)

Secrets & Wishes

"Jess is right. Boy, do I have a surprise." Alice has the microphone now, and I drag my gaze to her before zeroing in on Kate again. Only, she's leaving. "Some of you are safe, some of you aren't."

"Kate!" I call.

Alec and Rose choose that time to return.

I can't make up my mind. Am I pissed, confused, or scared? Maybe a combination of all three, but most of all, I want answers. Why the fuck would she say that?

"What's Alice up to?" Rose looks at the stage curiously.

I steal Rose's drink and down half of it.

"Parched, much?" she laughs.

"You don't know the half of it," I croak. With a quick shake of my head, I decide that Kate is just being a bitch. I'll ask Edward about it when he gets back, and for now, I'll listen to Alice.

"I don't mind secrets," she says into the microphone, her tone casual, almost flippant. "We all have them, right? There's always something." She titters a little laugh and smooths down her yellow dress. "I'm okay with that. It's when the secrets get out…" All traces of humor are gone, and she tsks. "That's just sloppy work." For some reason, she takes out her phone. "Excuse me. I have to call my mother-in-law. She deserves to hear this too."

I look around me, and I spot Jasper across the dance floor with a confused expression.

Alice speaks into the microphone again. "See, I always knew my husband wanted to become a musician," she says. "So this one wasn't really a revelation for me."

A handwritten note appears on the white screen.

Everyone thinks I'm thrilled to become a lawyer, when all I want is to play music.

Ben, standing a few feet away from me, takes a quick step forward before he stops again.

"Let's play a game!" Alice suggests. "I want to make sure I get this right, so I'll pick two random notes and see if I recognize the handwriting."

The next two notes on the screen cause my stomach to drop.

I cheated my way through high school.

I'm pregnant.

Alice giggles. "Well, I was Bella's best friend for years, and she showed up in Forks with a son who's almost ten. Doesn't take a genius to figure that one out, does it? And I'm sorry, Mike, but everyone knows you cheated."

"Jesus Christ," Rose breathes out. "Is that…?"

The secrets. Holy fuck.

At that point, Edward comes to a stop next to me, sans drinks.

"Now! Let's see what Ben's been up to!"

I'm gay.

"Oh my God," I gasp, and I'm not the only one who expresses shock.

"Angela knows, by the way," Alice snarls. "Because that's the thing with secrets. They get out when we're not careful. And, Ben? We know. Jasper, we know. We know you two are fucking around behind our backs." She grins darkly and holds up the phone. "The mayor's son isn't a good boy."

"Do something," someone says quietly.

I can't. I'm frozen in place. Jasper and Ben… I can't believe it.

Angela storms out.

"Angela!" Ben pleads before he follows.

Edward and Alec decide to take action, and the two walk closer to the stage.

"Not so fast, gentlemen," Alice chuckles.

I don't even like the one I'm supposed to spend the rest of my life with.

She's turned me into a stalker.

"These two were tricky for me," Alice confesses. "Because teachers aren't supposed to take part of the tradition, but I suppose Edward couldn't help himself. FYI, he's the one at the top. Sorry, Kate. If you're still here… Anyway, I finally figured out the last one is Eric. He had a huge crush on Bella back in the day."

I whip my head around, and Eric's mortified gaze meets mine. And it angers me, because Eric's a nice guy. So what if he had a crush? He certainly doesn't deserve to be put on the spot like this.

"Alice, what the fuck are you doing?" I snap.

"Where did you find the notes?" someone calls.

Alice ignores that and moves on. "Sorry to hear about your sister, Jess. I hope she's stopped cutting herself. And Ben—well, you're not here anymore, but I hope your dad doesn't beat you anymore. Now, this one… This one is something else."

The school loves my rapist.

I cover my mouth with a hand, and a string of gasps tears through the room.

Rose chokes. "No!"

"Alice," Emmett growls.

"That's enough, Alice!" Edward's voice is filled with anger, and he pushes forward again, only to be stopped by Alec—of all people.

"See? Alec wants to know how his date is involved in a rape case," Alice says flatly. Dread fills me, and nausea creeps up. "The natural reaction is probably to look to the girl and ask how she's coping, but we don't need to do that here."

A glass shatters against the floor. Forcing my sluggish body to cooperate, I look over my shoulder to see Emmett leaving the room, fists clenched at his sides.

"It was just another Friday, just another party at Royce's house." Alice goes into storytelling mode. "He and Rose were fighting and on one of their breaks. We all remember those, right?" She laughs. "So Rose wanted to make Royce jealous. She flirted with Emmett, confessed she's had a crush on him. She refills his drinks over and over again. He gently pries her away when she kisses him." She pauses and looks directly at Rose. "My biggest regret will always be when I didn't stop it. Because I saw you, Rose. Emmett was ready to pass the fuck out when you took him upstairs to sleep it off."

With my heart in my throat, I glance warily at Rose, who's got tears running down her cheeks.

"But you didn't let him sleep," Alice says. "You fucked him—even when he said no. And he confided in me a couple years later. He said he'd confronted you, and what was it you'd said? Oh, that's right. 'Get over it, it was just sex.'"

Jasper climbs the stage, and he says something that I can't hear over the sound of my ears ringing. Then he grabs Alice's arm and escorts her off the stage.

"Don't touch me!" she screams, and she wrenches away before storming out. "Rose, you were never supposed to come home!"

You could hear a pin drop after that.

I heave a shaky breath and look around me, everyone seemingly doing the same. Unsure of what to do, unsure of what to say, unsure of how to react.

Alec is the first one to head toward the exit, and when he passes Rose and she tries to touch his arm, he moves out of her way and ignores her.

It sets her off, and she starts sobbing into her hands.

"Isabella…" Edward walks over to me, gaze cautious. "Are you okay?"

"I…" I don't know. "We should check on someone." Too much has happened tonight; a lot of people must be hurt. "Emmett. We should check on Emmett."

He swallows and nods once, taking another step closer.

"Bella," Rose starts.

I shake my head. I can't even look at her. Maybe another day, but right now, she's not my priority.

Edward and I walk out of the ballroom and head toward the elevators. On the way, I text Emmett.

Where are you? Can we talk?

"I don't know what to think," I admit. "Jasper and Ben—can you believe it?"

Edward sighs and ushers me into the elevator. "That was the one thing I knew already. I wondered why Jasper came by the school so often when Ben worked. Then I saw them kissing one day."

"Jesus." I run a hand through my hair and check my phone. No response. "I'm so pissed at Alice, but she's got to be hurting too. And Angela…"

Edward nods slowly and clears his throat. "What about you, baby? I ran into Kate as she left."

The elevator dings, but I can't move. He holds the door when it tries to close.

I merely stare at Edward.

It's not true. Kate said that because she's bitter or something.

"Mom would never cheat on Dad," I say.

He furrows his brow, then gently guides me out of the elevator. "Of course not."

"Then why—" I get frustrated, so I take a breath while Edward unlocks the door to our room. "She said I don't know who my father is, and dating you has to mean I have daddy issues."

"Lord," he mutters.

Once inside the room, I sit down on the edge of the bed to remove my heels and rub the soreness from my feet. "You have to tell me everything, Edward."

"I know, sweetheart." He releases a breath and moves a chair so he can sit down in front of me. "Before I begin, I need you to know that the only reason Renee and Charlie kept this from you was because they didn't want you to look at them differently."

I swallow hard and clasp my hands in my lap.

"Renee didn't give birth to you."

That's funny. Tears spring to my eyes as my mouth twists into a tight smile, and something cracks inside me.

Edward shifts the chair forward a bit more so he can gather my hands in his. "Before your grandparents died, do you remember them talking about Charlie and Kate's older sister?"

"Stop it." I untangle my hands and fold my arms over my chest. It's not funny anymore. My smile is gone, the pain is spreading. "If you're trying to tell me Aunt Irina was my mother, you're out of your fucking mind."

She killed herself. She was an addict. I don't know much about her other than that. And my grandparents didn't mention her much at all—no one did. She's there in a few older pictures, as a young girl, and that's about it. After high school, she stopped caring about her future. She did drugs, couldn't hold a job, and distanced herself from her family.

"I'm sorry, Isabella. I'm not the one who should be telling you this. It happened before I met Kate, of course, so everything I know comes from her and Renee—and Charlie."

They've confirmed this to him?

"You've talked to…" Mom and Dad. I press my lips together hard, and I have to swallow my emotions. Then I shake my head because this is unbelievable. Too much.

"The first time I met you," he murmurs, "you were just turning four. It was your birthday party. I was twenty-one and trying to impress my new girlfriend's parents."

A low cry gets stuck in my throat, and I cover my mouth and look out the window. I remember. Vaguely, anyway. He'd said "no, thank you" to cake, and I couldn't fathom that. I spent the rest of my party pinching his leg and offering him cake.

"Kate and I were never perfect for one another," he goes on. "There was a sense of 'but this is just how it is' with her. I figured everyone felt that way. In retrospect, I realize how wrong I was." He pauses, hesitating. I wipe at my cheeks. "From that first day I spent in Forks—at your birthday party—there was something I was drawn to. It was why I didn't mind moving there. Chicago hadn't been on my radar since I graduated high school, and Seattle was okay at best. But Forks…there was something there."

Yeah, evidently a pile of horseshit and lies. I whimper and close my eyes, tears falling down.

Edward reaches out and brushes a thumb under my eyes. "It was your family, Isabella. I couldn't befriend Charlie and Renee fast enough. Just being in the same room as them was like breathing mountain air after a lifetime in a polluted city."

I'm suddenly assaulted by childhood memories, all of them featuring my parents. I don't want them tainted; I don't want them to be untrue. I wanna think about Dad and know he might actually be my uncle. My heart breaks at the thought, and I cry into my hands.

"Sweetheart." Edward joins me at my side and hugs me to him.

He's in my memories too. So many of them. He and Kate didn't leave Seattle until I was ten, but they visited frequently. And I do remember he liked to stay a bit longer than Kate did. Whether it was a barbecue or a weekend trip, it was Kate who announced when it was time to leave.

"Your aunt—Irina—committed suicide when you were two days old." Edward presses kisses to my hair as I force myself to listen. In reality, I don't want to hear another word. I don't want it to be real. "Your family didn't know you existed until one of her boyfriends dropped you off."

I shake my head. "No." My plea comes out strangled and hoarse, in a voice I don't recognize.

"Charlie was fresh out of the police academy, and Renee hadn't found a job yet, but they didn't care. They were going to raise you as their own, and no one could get in their way."

"I don't want this," I sob.

"They chose you, Isabella," he whispers in my hair. "You can't believe this makes them your parents any less."

I whimper again, and I keep my face covered. Memories bring me back to when I stuttered out I was pregnant. I was fifteen and scared out of my mind, embarrassed and ashamed and clueless.

I remember how Mom cried but immediately jumped into action. Dad was understandably angry, but he rose to the occasion just as quickly. Now I can't help but wonder what motivated them. Were they thinking back on Irina? She'd killed herself.

I remember how fussy my parents were. They barely let me go to the bathroom alone the first few months. Did they worry I was going to choose the same route Irina had?

I remember how they took over to make everything as easy as possible for me. School was never off the table; they didn't allow it. It only got postponed. They talked a lot about what a bright future I'd still have.

And I remember the smiles on their faces after I gave birth to Masen and I declared I'd found the love of my life.

Tears come faster, my breathing becomes choppy and erratic, and Edward holds me tightly, telling me everything whether I want him to or not.

I learn that the rift between Kate and Charlie began when she didn't approve of how I was raised. Since—and it fucking breaks me to think about it—I'm not his and Mom's, biologically, Kate felt she had a say. I didn't do enough sports, I didn't have enough girlfriends, I wasn't social enough… Over the years, the bickering and passive-aggressive comments culminated in a huge fight, and Dad and Kate stopped speaking.

It resulted in Edward spending less time with my parents because he got too much grief for it from Kate when he did.

Memories continue to come at me from every direction. Birthdays, Christmases, vacations… I see Mom's and Dad's faces, and I hear them the first time I asked about the fighting in the family. "Don't you worry about that, sweetie. It's between the adults." But it was all about me, wasn't it?

-cara