BPOV

I was absolutely determined to stay awake until Edward came home, no question about it. I was set in my conviction and aware that I was being positively stubborn. It was a simple decision, and I would stick by it. But Jasper was making this simple decision very difficult. He was making me so calm, unnaturally calm. I thought I should be mad to be manipulated like that - but it felt nice. And I knew he meant it soothingly, so rather that admonish him I heard myself mumble a sincere, "Thank-you" again.

I don't think I ever made the decision to put my head on his shoulder, I just felt so relaxed. And my head was getting heavier and heavier. Next thing I knew, my eyes were closed, just resting, of course. I still intended to stay awake.

And then I fell asleep, damn it Jasper.

That was my first thought when I awoke, because I just knew that I'd been sleeping. And only then did other things start to occur to me. Like the fact that Jasper's arm wasn't around me anymore, and then I saw that I wasn't in Edward's room. That frightened me. What had been a dream? Where was I? And then my other thoughts caught up to me. It didn't matter anymore where I was or what had been real (I was in that kind of groggy state where you wonder if all reality was the dream and maybe all your dreams were real), all that mattered was Edward. I felt a moment of intense fear, as my previous anxieties came back, and Jasper wasn't here to soothe them this time.

And then, being the slow-reflexive human that I was, I noticed the noise coming from next to me. Any vampire, and probably faster-minded person, would have been more preoccupied by the fact that something was moving in my bed, before letting my head be taken over by any other of my irrational thoughts. And then again, other people would probably have been afraid, startled; I was just confused.

"Edward?" I whispered tentatively, hoping I was right. The movement stopped, I turned over stiffly. Then I felt all my fears drop away as I saw Edward, trying to get slowly into bed with me. He was moving at human pace, which was unlike him and was the reason why I'd heard anything at all, but I only vaguely noticed this. I was too busy being happy.

"Bella." He said in greeting, flashing his crooked smile. He pulled the covers over us, and scooted closer on the bed. I looked over his features scrutinizing them for any need to panic. He noticed my stern expression and his turned a little doubtful, confused. "How are you?" I asked him with genuine meaning, I wondered if he would see my other question beneath this one. He did. His expression hardened. But his eyes stayed somewhat light.

"I'm…" He paused, looking for the right words. "outraged." He finished finally, and must have seen my reproachful look, because he smiled crookedly and brushed his fingers along my face. "…But controlled." At his touch my whole mind was wiped clear of thought and I felt my face melt against his fingertips. How does he do that? But once his words sank in I smiled widely.

"Those…monsters won't be back on the streets for a long, long time yet. And I really did speak to Charlie." I felt such a happiness and relief. He hadn't killed them. They were in jail. Alive, but not able to hurt anyone else either. Edward was trying to finish his thought but I cut him off by crashing my lips against his, closing my eyes.

"… Actually he's upstairs now, asleep in my -"

He was surprised, he hadn't been expecting that, but I just couldn't contain the love I felt for him right now. His hand, which had been next to me on the bed when his eyes were focused far away, talking, were now tangling themselves in my hair and I loved it. I peeked a look through my closed eyes to see that his were closed to. Finally, he pulled us apart, and both of us were gasping for air. I smiled fiendishly up at him, "I'd say I'm sorry, but I 'm not." He chuckled once and whispered in my ear, "I'm not either." Then he sighed, but it was a happy sigh, content.

I reached up with my arm, with the intent of pulling his closer - to put it around my shoulders and lean my head against his chest, but I was distracted by the sharp pain of my arm once I'd tried to move it. I hissed involuntarily, and grasped it with my other hand impulsively. That was the wrong move to do. Edward's face immediately looked concerned to the point where it made my stomach flutter. "Bella?!" He breathed in obvious alarm, grabbing my uninjured hand with both of his.

"No, I'm fine. I'm fine." I grumbled, hardly believing my own words. Sure enough he looked at me skeptically. "I think the anesthetic is wearing off, that's all."

"Are you alright. Should I get Carlisle, or some medicine, or -" I put a finger (from my good hand) over his lips. He looked at me with pain in his eyes. Ouch, that hurt, almost more than my physical pain.

"You know what you could do to make me feel better?" I asked. "Anything." He pledged, or asked, I wasn't sure. "This." I told him, than I gingerly took his closest arm and draped it over my shoulders as I'd originally intended. Then I took his farthest arm and pulled it toward me, across his own body. I placed it on my sore arm very gently. He let me move his hands as I wanted to. I closed my eyes for a second when his skin made contact with the bandage of my arm; it was like poking a bruise only worse. He bit his lip and I could see he wanted to pull his hand away (always afraid that he's hurting me), but I sighed contentedly before he could.

"Much better." I said and closed my eyes leaning in to him. His cool hand was better than ice, and ice could never give me the shivers in quite the same way. The way I liked. We sat like this for a few more minutes, and I considered drifting off to sleep, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to yet. I was smiling, and felt myself relax in his embrace, but when I opened my eyes he looked… unhappy? Disturbed? I couldn't place the serious, brooding, almost macabre expression on his features.

He wasn't looking at me, his expression looked pained, as he gazed into the corner of the room. I finally took a good look around and something clicked. "We're in Alice's room." I said, sounding sort of surprised. When had they moved me in here? "Yes." was all he said, still lost in thought. "Why?" I was staring at his face, and he seemed to remember his surroundings as he wiped his face of all emotion and lowered his eyes to mine. I saw the love and regret churning underneath.

Oh no, he's blaming himself again, isn't he. I mentally groaned, hoping to avoid an awkward and unwanted conversation that was probably inevitable. But he just flashed his golden eyes at me and I forgot my upcoming dilemma.

"I brought Charlie here. He didn't want to go home with you not there - and he sort of…lost it, at the station. He's in my room now, and I thought it would be better if we claimed you were here in Alice's, for his peace of mind." I mulled over that for a moment, "Oh.". My father was staying over night here in a house full of vampires… Strange. And yet, not as strange as it probably should be, but Edward was staring out the window again, a serious look on his face, I mentally sighed.

"What are you thinking?" I asked, quoting one of his favorite expressions to use on me. He smiled in recognition of the phrase, but it didn't reach his eyes this time. After a moment or two he answered quietly, "You." I watched his face. The hand he had around my shoulders started making circles almost of its own accord. He seemed to be deliberating something, but before I could ask, he was already explaining.

"Why didn't you tell me? How bad it had gotten?" He pulled his eyes away from the window and brought them to look at me, tortured. I shuddered, and immediately his expression went from disgruntled, to remorseful. He didn't press me for answers, instead held me tighter and murmured into my hair, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean…I just - I saw what those men had been thinking, and once I knew you were ok, I didn't want to think it had been that bad, but they unknowingly showed me what they did."

I was shaking now, in his arms. I hadn't wanted to relive the night - again. I wanted to be strong, and tell Edward I was alright, that he needn't worry. I knew he'd blame himself, and it wasn't his fault. I wanted to say all these things at once; but suddenly his words distracted me and I heard a grimy voice whisper darkly, "We'll give her something she can really cry about.". Before I knew it I was crying, partially out of anger at myself. I hated feeling weak, and I knew I was causing Edward pain.

He took his hand off my arm and folded me into both his arms, pulling me into his chest. One hand was rubbing my back, as the other held my head and let my cry onto his shoulder, which I did. I curled my knees up into a ball, and they creaked from their bruises and I felt the bruise across my back Edward probably didn't know was there, and I just lost it. He just held me and murmured soothing words into my hair. After a few minutes I started gaining control again and paid attention to the actual words he was saying.

"Shh.. Bella. It's alright I've got you. And I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I wasn't here, it was my fault, I should have protected you. It won't ever happen again. I'm sorry. Shh. It's aright." I cried myself into silence and then let his words envelope me, listening only to his voice, and letting his velvet voice push the demons; the nightmares, away. But they weren't right, his words, and once I'd calmed down enough to be rational I found myself getting angry. His words didn't make sense, or at least, they shouldn't; I didn't think they did.

"That's why I didn't tell you!" I said in a raspy voice that portrayed my anger all the same. He blanched away from my glare looking positively ashamed. "I'm sorry love. I should have known better then to have brought it up, I don't know why I asked." He still sounded so guilty it was irritating. I poked him in the chest accusingly, "No, not because it bothers me to think about." I paused, he looked confused. "Sorry?" he said questioningly. He'd meant it as a question, like from a different era when people would say 'sorry?' instead of 'What?', but it proved my point too perfectly to pass up the opportunity.

"Don't be! That's why I didn't want to talk about it, because I knew you would blame yourself and it's not your fault Edward!"

"But I should have -" He said with an air of self-hatred, but I cut him off before he could say what I knew he was thinking.

"No! You shouldn't have! You went hunting with your family, that's perfectly understandable, and I don't want you beating yourself up over me. You didn't see this coming, so you are not at fault here, you even came back early to save me. I'm grateful that you're here, so stop making it seem like every little bad thing that happens to me is because of you." He stared at me, shock on his face, and a little bit of defiance.

"But…" He said, and then stopped, obviously trying to find an argument.

"No buts." I said just as acidly, "It was their fault, not yours and not mine. And I got myself out before anything serious even happened." A grimace crossed his face, and I knew he'd seen everything. I would have been embarrassed, but I was too busy being irate.

"If it hadn't been for you, this would have happened anyway, and they wouldn't be sitting in a jail cell right now too." He was just gaping at me, his face still hard. I made my voice quieter, more calm as I placed my head back on his chest. I kissed his collarbone lightly and felt him relax just a tad.

"I love you Edward." I said it softly now, all traces of anger gone, my eyes closed again. "And I hate it when people bad-mouth my Edward, even my amazing… fiancée, Edward Cullen." His arms tightened around me and I could tell he was more relaxed. I knew that would work. I was warming up to the word now, it didn't sicken me as much as it used to, and it made him happy - so I could live with it. Heck, I would use it too, if it would make him stop blaming himself for my weaknesses. I hoped he understood.

"I love you too Isabella Swan." He whispered into my hair, then he put his cool hand back on my bandaged arm. I laid my head back against his col chest, and I drifted off to sleep, a smile on my lips.

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Ok, so this chapter contains a good deal of both angst and fluff. I hope I got Edward's reaction right and he was in character… I think I did, but I'm not sure. :/ W/e. Ok, so I know this chap was late too (please keep the pitchforks away!), but I had com problems and have been away all weekend. So, yea. Sorry. Thanks for reading. Hope you like it, and please, please, please review.

-FA. :)