AN: I hope you've enjoyed the story so far!

BPOV

I suddenly felt nervous as I waited for Esme to explain the past that made her seem so understanding. Was her past going to be as bad as mine? Worse?

EsmePOV

I couldn't let her walk out on the greatest thing that had happened to her- Edward was made for her.

I took a deep breath, ready to share something that only my little family knew.

"Bella, when I was sixteen years old, I was raped by one of my mom's friends..."

Flashback

"Espe- Esme... Mommy has a friend over." My mother slurred as she hung onto a man she had just met. I glared at the two of them and felt Harold, my little brother, cower behind me. "So you and Harold go to your room."

I grabbed Harold's hand and led him to our room. I knew the drill; let this random guy do her all night as Harold and I bunker in our room. I distract him from all the moans and curses since he's only five.

I don't know who his father is. My mom got fatter and fatter and had a baby.

I raised him.

She had forgotten about him almost instantly. She was too wrapped up in finding herself her next lay and selling the weed she grew in our room.

Now, here I am, drawing dream houses with color pencils I had taken from school.

"I wish Mommy loved me." Harold said, doodling myself and him holding hands.

She doesn't love us. I knew that we were just a check from the state to her. I was just hoping he would never find that out.

"Sometimes mommies don't know how to love." I crawled behind him and pulled him onto my lap. I watched him draw on a new piece of paper.

"I'm glad you love me." He said, looking up at me with bright blue eyes and smiling chubby cheeks. My arms held him a little tighter. "We can run away, far from here. We can live in a big house. Huge!"

I smiled as he described each room of our house in great detail. He really had a vision when it came to decorating each room. Sure, the chocolate fountains and slide instead of stairs was a bit out there, but it was beautiful. His imagination was pure.

This could be his future. I had thought with hope.

Once there had been enough silence, I tucked him in his bed. I gave him a kiss on his forehead.

"I love you, Essy." My little brother yawned and his beautiful blue eyes fluttered closed.

"I love you too, Harold." Had I known that would have been the last conversation we would ever have, I would have never stopped talking to him. I would have stayed up and asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, what his favorite color was today. I would've made him laugh one more time. His laugh was always so squeaky and unique, and it always brought a smile to my face. It made his eyes seem less ocean blue and more sky blue. His chubby cheeks turned pink.

I would've made him laugh.

Instead, I fell asleep.

"Wake up you lil' bitch." A man's voice growled and there was suddenly a pressure on me. My eyes were wide open and on top of me was Mom's friend. His breath smelled like beer and his face was only centimeters away from me.

"Get off!" I struggled beneath him. It was no use. He was heavy. He hands held my wrists above my head like iron cuffs with just one hand. His other hand began to pull down my blanket and slide off my clothes.

Tears began to sting my eyes when I was unable to move my legs. I couldn't kick him. He had his naked body pressed against me, pinning down.

I couldn't do anything.

The little girl inside me took over, and I started sobbing. "Mom!" I begged.

I didn't hear her move.

"MOM! Help!" I screamed. Our apartment had very thin walls, so our neighbors started to pound on the walls, demanding that I shut up in muffled tones.

One yank of my underwear, and I was naked.

My heart raced and I knew I was alone.

Tears were blurring my vision and pain shot threw me as he slid in me.

I yelped in pain with every thrust.

My cries were the sounds of a strangled animal.

And then my body went numb.

My vision blackened.

The pain was gone.

I had lost reality.

My brain was protecting me from anything that was happening. In all honesty, I don't remember how long it lasted, or what had caused him to stop.

I just randomly... Came back.

I saw my mother standing, wearing a robe, crying with something in her hand. Her chest fell rapidly and I looked at what she was staring at.

Her friend was on the floor, naked. He groaned and held his head in his hands.

I put two and two together- my mom had smashed him in the head with the object in his hands.

My mother and I looked at each other, and she opened her mouth to apologize. I knew that was going to be the next thing she was going to say. I just knew it.

She didn't get the chance to, though. Her friend got up so quickly that I could register it until his hands were around her neck. She struggled, scratched at him, punched him blindly. Her punches became weaker. Her face grew purple.

My mother was gone.

I sat in my bed, naked and horrified into immobilization. I watched him run out of my room. I never saw him again.

I stared at my dead mother. How had no one helped us? Had they not heard my screams? Even Harold didn't-

Harold.

I don't remember moving. I just remember looking down at him.

I remember looking at him.

He was lying in a pool of his own blood. A red line had been cut across his throat and more blood poured from it.

But he looked so peaceful.

His eyes were closed- he must have still been sleeping- and the blood that surrounded him made his skin look lighter. He looked younger. He looked less burdened by the evil we dealt with every day.

He looked free.

I threw up by his bed.

Eight months after their deaths, I stared out the orphanage window.

Today is my birthday. I am seventeen.

I am alone.

"Esme?" A woman asked. I turned to see that it was Silvya, an employee here. She smiled at me.

I hated her every time I saw her. She was always smiling.

I didn't answer her like she had hoped I would, I just glared, waiting for her to continue.

"My nephew, Carlisle Cullen, is going to be here. He's going to be hanging out with all of you guys this week. This week is when we have that picnic in the park! It's Activity Week!" As she spoke cheerily, a boy walked in behind her.

He was extremely handsome. He had blond hair, and piercing green eyes that widened when he saw me.

Silvya did not need to introduce him. Instead, he walked over to me and stuck his hand out for me to shake. I took it, never losing eye contact.

"I'm Carlisle."

"Esme." I said breathlessly. Our hands were still shaking, and Silvya cleared her throat off in another world.

His hand would hold me in our own world.

"I'll leave you two alone then..." A voice said. We didn't even acknowledge it.

"You- you know- you're beautiful." He said quickly, stumbling over his words. He glared at the floor, angry at his inability to be fluent. I giggled at the way he wanted to impress me. I had never had the attention of the boys.

"Thanks. Maybe it's the birthday vibe." I teased. I just wanted him to wish me a happy birthday, really.

"What? Oh! Happy birthday!" He ran his hand through his hair nervously.

"Thanks." I felt a pang of guilt at my happiness.

Harold wouldn't be celebrating this birthday with me. He wouldn't draw me a picture this year. I looked at Carlisle in fear.

I can't be happy.

I lost my brother, my purity, even the woman who gave birth to me. I missed her, despite her being so terrible. Despite all this being her fault.

I couldn't be too mad, she had given me Harold.

I shied away from Carlisle.

Instead of coming after me, he gave me a sad smile of understanding. Did he know?

"Esme, would you do me the please of accompanying me to the picnic tomorrow?" He waited patiently.

My heart skipped a beat.

I didn't want to trust him.

I didn't want to rely on him.

"Yes." My mouth said despite what my head feared.

He gave me a dorky grin and stumbled as he backed away from me, causing a giggle to escape from my lips. The sound seemed to make him happier and his smiled widened.

He disappeared from my sight.

And the guilt came back ten fold.

End of flashback

"I had pretended to be sick for the picnic, feeling so guilty for being happy without them." I explained to Bella. "But Carlisle looked for me. He explained that he knew I wasn't ready for a relationship, but that at the end of the week, he'd be going to college. I guess Silvya had already told him about me because he was very understanding. But he insisted that we were meant to be together, and that he would wait for me in college. Of course, I didn't believe him so I ignored the messages he left for Silvya to give to me. He never came down to visit me, but that's because he was all the way in New York. He couldn't afford tickets there and back. Plus he was working as an intern in a hospital, so that took up all of his time...

"When I was eighteen, I left the orphanage. They helped me get a job as an assistant to an interior designer- it reminded me of Harold- and I got my own place. When I was twenty-one, I was living a normal life. I was Rae Anne's top assistant, and eventually branched off as an interior designer. My business had taken off when Carlisle came to my front door..."

Flashback

I booked yet another appointment with a client, and closed my planner in content.

Sure, I had lived a terrible life, but look where I am now.

I have a beautiful house that Harold would have approved of, and I'm happy. Of course, nothing could ever replace that missing piece of my heart, but I was pretty good at living my life.

Someone rang my doorbell, and I got up thinking that it was something that was going to be dropped off for a house.

Instead, Carlisle Cullen stood in front of me.

My heart stopped and then picked up, and I was not able to talk. He gave me a crooked smile and said, "Hi, Esme."

I just stared at him.

He was like wine, he got better with age. His features that I had originally admired were finer, his hair a more vibrant blonde, his eyes greener, and his voice deeper.

"How've you been?" He asked me. And I realized that he was just standing in my doorway, waiting to be invited in.

"Please, come in." He gave me a wide smile and came into my house. I couldn't help but notice just how much he seemed to belong in my house.

"How've you been?" He repeated, his eyes searching mine.

"Good. Better. I own a interior design business... How about you?"

"I'm much better now. I've missed you, Esme. You look even more beautiful now." I looked down in embarrassment. I had not expected him to be so blunt. I had not expected for him to mean his compliments.

I gave an awkward chuckle, and tried to change the topic. "How was school?" I tried to keep the pain out of my voice. I hated that I missed him.

"It was great! I got a job here." I looked up at him, surprised.

"You were only there for four years. Don't doctors have to go to school for like eight years?"

"Yeah, but it's really about who you know. Plus, I had gone in as a Junior because of all the AP credits I had transferred from my high school." He explained modestly, even a little bashfully. He shook his head, took my hands in his, and watched me. "Esme, please go on a date with me. It's been four years and I have not stopped thinking about you since then. Just one date. Please?"

Again, the bluntness had taken me by surprise.

My answer surprised me just as much. "Okay."

End of Flashback

"Carlisle ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me. He was so patient... He loved me with all his heart, and waited for me to be ready to love him. He was supportive when it came to Harold and my past. I used to be so afraid of needing him, Bella. I had even pushed him away once I knew I loved him- it was the worst three months of my life... But he made me the best person I could be. Don't lose the person who makes you the best person you can be, darling."

Bella looked up at me, her big brown eyes relieved. Maybe because she met someone with a similar past, or maybe because I had answered a question that had been upsetting her.

Either way, she pulled me into a hug. "Esme, can you pick up the girls? I'm going to go talk to Edward."

I gave her a smile and a nod. Of course I could, they were so much like Harold. They made me so happy.

"Go, sweetie." She ran out the door, not grabbing a jacket or umbrella. She was used to the rain, I think she even liked it.

BPOV

I rang his doorbell, soaked. I shivered, not from the cold, but from me being nervous. He didn't answer, so I reached to ring it again, but the door opened before I could press it.

Edward stood in front of me, his copper hair wilder than usual and only wearing pajama bottoms. I felt my cheeks redden as I stared at his sculpted chest. He must have been taking a nap- it was the middle of the day.

"Bella?" Edward grumbled tiredly, his sleepy voice rough. "What're you doing here? Are you okay?"

Instead of answering him, I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him. He was momentarily confused before he began to move his lips against mine. I didn't want to say anything. I just wanted to be in his arms.

He had managed to close the door behind us, and led us to the living room couch without breaking our kiss.

I wanted to continue, but once we were on the couch, I pulled away and leaned my forehead against his, breathing heavily.

"Edward, I'm sorry that I got mad. I love you. I'm just not used to love..." I explained shyly. Edward moved so he could kiss me on my forehead.

"Bella, it's fine. I figured that you just needed a little time. I will take care of you, I want to. All of you." I don't know how he knew it, but he said exactly what I needed to hear.

We fixed our positions so I was resting on Edward's chest and he held me. I listened to his heart beat.

"Bella, do you want to talk about it?" He asked, breaking the comfortable silence.

Did I?

"I just- I am not used to feeling protected. I just have never been able to trust anyone, really -my little sisters aside, of course- and I don't really know how to... Your whole family has been absolutely incredible to us, and I'm very grateful, but I've always felt on edge about it. Whenever I trust someone, they hurt me." I began sadly. Edward tightened his hold on me.

"Bella, I would never let anything happen to you." He assured me. My chest tightened in fear.

"I believe that you would keep me safe, Edward, I do. It's just that me getting hurt isn't my biggest concern. I am absolutely terrified that my sisters will be hurt, eventually. Because of me trusting someone."

"I will protect you. And anything else that you hold dear in your heart. I love your sisters as well, Bella." He said that he would keep us safe with such certainty, I began to suspect that he already had done something to try... At the very least, he had to have some sort of plan. The ferocity in his eyes scared me rather than comforted me.

"Look, Edward, please don't try and pave the road for us. We will be fine as long as no one meddles." Was that fear in his eyes?

He closed his eyes and nodded, burying his face into the curve of my neck. He placed on gentle kiss there before resting against me. "I love you, Bella. You have so quickly become my whole life." My heart fluttered at the words. How perfect.

I believe him.

He will keep us safe. He will love us.

My stomach growled after we stayed in that position for about an hour, and we agreed on pizza. The pizza was here when he was in the bathroom, so I grabbed the money off the table and opened the door.

My stomach roared in eagerness at the idea of pizza and I paid him.

Edward and I ate the pizza happily.

Edward made jokes as we watched a Disney movie, commenting about the prince not being trustworthy. He was too good and they were all too happy too early in the movie.

It being my first time watching the movie, cracked up at every single comment he made.

"The snowman reminds me of Emmett." I said through laughs. He doubled over in laughter of agreement.

He held me as I cried about the sisters relationship, thinking of my own sisters.

It got late, and he offered to drive me home.

"Could I sleep over?" I asked timidly.

"Y-yeah! Of course, Bella." When I looked up at him, I saw his nervousness. It made me slightly more confident.

That night, I fell asleep in his arms.

In one of his shirts.

The last thing I thought before going to sleep was, he will keep us safe.

I woke up to the smell of bacon and an empty bed.

I smiled when Edward promptly opened the door with a tray of food in his hands. I sat up in bed and opened my arms for my food.

"Good morning, beautiful. How did you sleep?" He asked as he put my tray on my lap and then gave me a quick kiss on my lips.

"Amazingly. Thank you. How about you?" I took a bite out of my bacon strip.

"Blissful. Perfect. Take your pick. It was amazing sleeping in the arms of an angel." I laughed and blushed, eating more food. "I would love to spend every night like this."

"Me too." I admitted.

"Bella... How about it?" He asked, suddenly eager. I felt my eyebrows knit together in confusion.

"How about what?"

"Bella, move in. You and your sisters. Move in." I stared at him, my eyes wide and a smile growing across my face.

I opened my mouth to answer but my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID, and had intended on dismissing the mood-killer. But it was Esme, probably calling to let the girls call and tell me about their first day at school.

"Sorry." I whispered and answered my phone. "Hello?"

"Bella... Bella, dear... You need to come to the hospital." Esme let out a gurgled sob and my heart sank to my stomach. Edward sensed my mood change and put a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Charlie came to the house. He tried to-" Again, she let out a terrible sob. "Bella, you need to come. The girls."

I hung up and looked at Edward, not really seeing him.

"Bella, my love? What's wrong?"

"Hospital." Was all I managed to choke out.

AN: I'm sorry! Don't hate me! Please review, favorite, and follow!