Chapter 20.

Isabella Swan

"Buy why?" I whined up at him like a two year old child. Edward was going on another job for a couple of days, which meant…well, no Edward for a couple of days. Edward was getting dressed when I heard him chuckle at my question. He was buttoning up his long white collared shirt as he spoke.

"Because," he said mocking my child like whine of a voice. I rolled my eyes as he laughed and went back to his normal voice.

"I just have to, my love. There is some really good money for all of us in this job and we need the money for later, so just go back to bed, baby. I'll be home by Monday." he said pulling on his black blazer and leaning on the bed to give me a chaste kiss before pulling away to grab his suitcase he used for "business meetings". I really didn't mind Edward's line of work anymore but the part of him being away from me so long…it hurt and really bugged me. I mean if he ever got hurt on a job, I would probably be the last to know. If the cops got him…he'd be locked up for life and I couldn't handle that.

"I love you." he said now leaning in for a much longer and sweeter kiss...holy baby Jesus in a basket, he has soft lips. I sat up a bit more to gain more of him, but it was too late. He was already pulling away, I frowned, almost pouting as he readjusted the suitcase in his hand and winked at me before heading for the door.

I contemplated just letting him walk out without hearing my retribution to his last few words towards me but thinking of Edward being gone for so long, possibly getting hurt, and leaving like that…it killed me.

"I love you more." I whispered back, feeling the tug at my frantic heart. I did love him, more than anything. I have to admit, he was pretty forgiving about my whole pointing a gun at his head ordeal yesterday and I tried to make it up to him but he needed to make up a few things to me as well; one word: Tanya.

I didn't know a lot about this girl and I hadn't pushed it on Edward yet because I was feeling pretty guilty about the gun thing but I would push it when he came back, in fact, as soon as he left I might just have a little discussion with Rose and Alice. That should be fun.

As Edward opened t he door to our room he stopped and looked over his shoulder one more time.

"Bye baby." he whispered before winking and starting out into the hallways. He's saying goodbye forever my subconscious whispered but I mentally smacked my subconscious and shook the thought out of my head. He'll be back, he always comes back.

I sat in bed for a few minutes, contemplating on whether I should stay in bed or get up and go talk to Alice and Rose for a bit about some questions I knew Edward would never answer for me. So I guess we are waking up. I threw the covers off my body and placed my feet on the cold wood floor as I bounded over my closet. I slipped into my favorite pair of distressed jeans that Edward had one of the girls at Saks pick out for me. I smiled at the memory of Edward totally ignoring the pretty hostess and holding me tighter than life when Antonio arrived. I pulled on a white tank and an easy black and white checkered plaid button up. I didn't bother with shoes because I knew everyone considered this their home and it wasn't like it was weird not wearing shoes in your own home. This isn't your home, my subconscious just wouldn't shut up today and it was starting to piss me off. I shook that thought out of my head as well and grumbled to myself in frustration as I pulled my hair up into a ponytail.

I walked downstairs a little too eager to meet up with Alice and the rest of the family. I really needed some answers and if Edward wouldn't give them to me, then I definitely wasn't going to sit around and be ignorant to everything, no. I was going to get some answers even if I had to torture it out of Alice.

As I walked into the kitchen I saw Esme cooking something that smelled like waffles and sausage and I smiled, remembering my own mother and how she would make the strangest things. I remembered this one time I came home, starving from a day of school and my mom wanted pizza, since dad wouldn't be home. She pulled out a sheet of the pre-ready pizza dough and then started to grab everything out of the fridge and just shoved it onto the mushy, white substance on the stove. It was actually really good…

"Bella!" Alice snapped me out of my train of thought and I looked up at her, now leaping off of the stool she was sitting on at the counter and dancing over to me with her graceful walk. She was barefoot as well and in a tee shirt and jeans so that made me feel a bit more comfortable around everyone.

"Good morning!" she squealed as she hugged me lightly, gripping my hand gently. It was almost as if she were trying to comfort me through this greeting. I smiled down at her warily, not understanding why I needed the comforting. Did she feel bad about the Tanya thing? Was she still upset about me yelling at her yesterday?

"Good morning…" I said unsure if I should be happy or…confused. Which I was.

Esme smiled up at me gently, the smile my mother used to use when I was sad or upset. It was a reassurance and something to help me get through the day. I missed having a mother…I missed my mother and seeing Alice and rose and the guys interact with such a lovely and wonderful person like Esme…it only made me miss my mother that much more and I hadn't really missed her this bad since a few years after her death. I had learned to move on…I had to take care of Charlie.

"Where is everyone?" I asked looking around for crazy Emmet, half expecting him to be at the table with Rose, who was sitting in her normal spot reading the latest issue of Vogue and sipping on something steaming in a little tea cup, and shoving a stack of waffles that Esme was making into his mouth.

It was silent in the kitchen for a heartbeat, everyone's eyes settling on me with sadness, but they resumed their positions. Esme pulled out a new stack of waffles for all of us while Rose set down her magazine and tea cup and Alice shook her head and looked up at me with sad eyes.

"Everyone went." Alice was looking down at her bare and perfectly manicured feet while she said this.

"Well," Rosalie said standing up and moving to the kitchen area with Esme to grab a large and fluffy waffle. "At least all the boys did." Rose sounded like a sulking child and Esme just sighed in exasperation, obviously this topic had come up many times this morning, while I was upstairs with Edward before he left.

"Rose, please don't make this morning worse than it probably already is for poor Bella." Esme said glancing at me for a moment. I looked at them all, still confused at to what they were talking about and Alice looked up at me with sympathy in her dark eyes.

"Are you alright, Bella?" Alice asked taking my hand in both of her little ones. I looked at her confused and wondered what on earth she was talking about. Did I looked really upset today or something?

"Yes, I'm fine." I answered in a baffled tone. "Why?"

"Well," Alice pursed her lips for a moment then patted the top of my hand and wrapped her arms around herself. "the first time they leave on their own, without us," she closed her eyes as if it were some horridly painful memory.

"It's the worst feeling in the world." Rosalie finished for Alice, staring off into the distance at some wall beyond me. Her eyes looked pained and tired all at the same time. I didn't understand what they were feeling and the silence and sadness in the room was so thick I could practically cut it with a butter knife.

"I trust Edward." I shrugged and walked over to Esme who was setting out plates of waffles, sausage and other breakfast food out on the counter for us with a slightly shocked look on her face as she looked at me, searching for something I'm sure I didn't have.

"S-so you aren't scared." Alice was stunned as she sat back down at the chair at the bar. I looked up at her, dazed at to what she was trying to get at, while I popped a strawberry from the crystal platter Esme had set out, into my mouth. I took a deep breath , placing my hands on the bar counter, bracing myself almost.

"Hasn't Edward been doing this for most of his life? Killing people, I mean." I wasn't going to tiptoe around these people. They knew what they do and they weren't ashamed of it by the way they acted around everyone and treated average people…me even, before they really understood who I was.

Esme stopped dead in her tracks, though, from cleaning dishes, when my last sentence came out and Rose's face tightened into a firm glare towards me.

"Yes." Alice breathed as I tried to let the tension that was building up in the room roll off my back.

"Then why would I be scared?" It was a rhetorical question but when I saw Rose stand up and walk over to the bar, with her breakfast in hand and sat down next to her, I knew my question would be easily shot down to size.

"Because, Isabella," Rose's tone was icy and flat, as was her glare towards me. "Edward and the boys are going to wipe out one of the largest opposing crime families to us, today. The people they are after could easily kill them." she said causally as she took a bite of her syrup drowned waffles.

"Rosalie Lillian Cullen!" Esme gasped at her daughter in horror and came to my side in an instant as I felt my knees automatically turn to Jell-o. She placed her arm around me gingerly and looked at my now ashened face with a sincerely concerned gaze.

"You aren't supposed to say stuff like that, Rose!" Alice squawked at Rose as she just shrugged her shoulders and patted her hands together, as if trying to get crumbs off her hands. I could see Alice's eyes tearing up with worry for her fiancée and I knew it was hard on her, even though this definitely wasn't the first time he did something like this.

"She is acting as if nothing is going to happen to them, so why beat around the bush with it?" she asked glaring at me with anger now. My mouth was dry down as I tried to breathe through my mouth for some unexpectedly and greatly needed oxygen.

"Rosalie, how would you have felt if someone told you Emmet was basically walking to his own assassination, the first time he went on a mission without you?" Alice squealed, tears running down her eyes now. Rose looked up at my probably greened face now.

Walking into his own assassination? What did they mean? Where was Edward? Was he alright? Why was he going if there was a chance of dying? Why would he want to leave me all alone?

"A-assassination…?" I gulped out as I felt my knees buckle beneath me, but Esme caught me easily. Alice rushed to help with me form her mother and they both led me to sit at the dining room table. I gazed outside the glass doors and large windows of the kitchen area and pictured Edward getting shot…dying. I tried to shake all these thoughts out of my head but it was impossible, they had already planted the seed and now I was going to be a mess for the rest of the day.

"Sorry, Bella." Rosalie said in a flat tone, obviously not meaning one word falling off her tongue, as she threw her plate into the sink and exited the kitchen area. She was just a bitch like that, I guess.

"It'll be alright, Bella." Alice soothed, gripping my hand as Esme shook her head after Rosalie and grabbed a plate, filling it with everything she had set out on the bar counter top for us to dig into. As she walked back she placed a tea cup full of coffee before me and the plate of food next to that. I eagerly picked up the teacup and took a few sips of the coffee Esme had mixed with sugar and a little bit of sugar.

"It will be fine, honey." Esme said sitting on the other side of me and pushed a loose strand of hair behind my ear. She reminded me of my mother more and more by the second.

"Mr. Cullen even went with them, this time." Esme said smiling at me carefully as she referred to Carlisle. I thought Edward said that Carlisle never went on business anymore, he just sent the boys out for him. This must be a big deal. It was silent for a moment as I stared down at the beautiful food Esme had made for me. I decided I should eat something before I threw up or…passed out or something. I took a few bites of the delicious waffles then set my fork back down.

"I know what will get our minds off those stupid boys!" Alice said standing up giddily, Esme and I staring up at her in bewilderment. "SHOPPING!" she squealed in utter joy of the thought. I groaned in protest and her face fell.

"I hate shopping." I groaned out in horror. Alice rolled her eyes but let me be after that, knowing I shouldn't be put through anymore horrible torture today, and went to go find Rosalie. I leaned against Eme a little bit and closed my eyes as she pressed my head against her shoulder, loving, and began to stroke my hair gently.

"Edward will come home to you, Bella." she whispered gently as I felt the lump in my throat begin to cause me to wheeze slightly and stinging tears begin to form in my eyes. "You made him come back to life, you know." she said in a fatter-of-fact tone. I looked up at her, probably looking utterly broken and gazed at her, confused now. She laughed lightly and ran her gentle fingers through my hair.

"He hated this life, Bella. I'm sure he still does but when he saw that his sisters were in love, with his best friends…it made it just as bad for him. Edward had always been so cold towards anyone who wasn't apart of the family. But, you Bella." she said lifting my chin up to look at me with gracious eyes. "You brought my son back to life. Thank you." she said hugging me now. I was stiff for a moment, not sure what I should do but gradually accepted the hug and pulled away after a moment.

She stood up after that and began to head out of the kitchen, while I decided to stay and sit for a while. I stared out the large glass windows that almost filled the entire walls and contemplated the situation before me. Why hadn't Edward told me he was going on such a hard job? I sighed and leaned back in the wooden chair, starring out into the four or five acres of beautiful garden and green grass outside. I listened for anything to comfort me but only heard a distant and infrequent breeze blowing against the windows, causing them to creek every now and then.

"Bella, we are leaving!" Alice called from beside me. When had she gotten here?

"W-what? Where are you going?" I asked baffled at her sudden announcement. Were they going to join the boys, maybe? If they went, I was going too.

"Shopping, silly!" Alice cooed in delight and smiled down at me in hopefulness that I would join her. Not if hell froze over.

"Oh, have fun." I said crossing my arms over my chest and leaning further into my chair, making it obvious I was not going with her and had no interest to. She frowned down at me and sighed before waving back at me and heading out. I knew Esme was probably going to go with them so I would be alone most of the day.

Great, alone to wallow in worry and self loathing for forgetting to ask about Tanya.

The girls had been gone for a few hours now and being alone to worry all by myself wasn't as great as I had expected it to be. Yeah right.

I decided maybe a movie could get my mind off the whole situation with Edward, Tanya, Rosalie…everything, so I walked out into the living room where the large 58 inch hung on the wall with the large DVD collection shelved underneath. I rummaged through old French films, Disney Princess films-obviously bought by Alice-and finally came across some horrendously cheesy looking mob movie. So much for getting my mind off of things.

After I popped the DVD into the Blue Ray player-only the best for the Cullen family-I pulled on one of the blankets that were lying on the couch and wrapped myself in it.

As the opening came on, it wasn't anything I didn't expect: bullets, blood and dead people everywhere. I wasn't really paying attention to the movie and soon I started to doze off when I heard the door bell ring. I shot up hearing the ending song to the movie playing and I looked at my cell phone beside me, checking the time. How long had I been asleep? My cell phone read 5:15pm and a text from Alice popped up as soon as I opened my phone.

Going out for din din with mom and rosie! Don't wait up.

xoxo

Ali(:

I rolled my eyes as the front door bell rang again and I got up from my comfy position on the enormous U shaped couch. I threw my cell phone down and walked over to the door, my feet hitting the cold floor with light claps as I rushed over. I didn't bother to look to see who it was before I opened it and automatically regretted it.

"Hello Isabella." Tanya's familiar and bitterly sweet called as soon as I opened the door. She was smiling down at me as I stared up at her, utterly baffled and in awe of her. She was beautiful, I will give the bitch that, with her supermodel body covered in tight black jeans and a black turtle neck that was equally as tight as those jeans. Her strawberry blonde hair was pulled up into a messy bun with tendrils falling into her face and I felt like calling up Edward this very moment and screaming at him for not telling me his ex was basically the hottest woman alive!

"T-Tanya." I stuttered and straightened up, leaning against the door now. Her eyebrow cocked up and soon a smirk was crawling up onto her perfectly lip glossed lips.

"Aren't you going to invite me in?" she said crossing her arms over her chest and smirked down at me as if I were utterly stupid. I narrowed my eyes towards her and spoke sharply now.

"No." I answered bitterly, causing her smirk to fall into a bitter grimace. "Edward isn't home." I said starting to close the door in her face but I felt her hand slam against the door, causing the door to stay open. Her eyes blazed with fury and I just stood there, glaring back at her, daring her to pull anything on me. She may be apart of a mob family but so was I now.

"What do you want, Tanya?" I asked in the sweetest tone I could fake. She took in a deep breath and plastered on a sickly sweet smile back. She knew we were playing a game and we could both play this game pretty well. She cocked her head to the side, hand still on the door and shook her head before speaking in a low tone.

"I just came to warn you." she said gently removing her hand form the door and placing it on her hip as she still smiled, but it didn't touch her furious eyes.

"Oh?" I said humoring her with my sweetest and most innocent tone I could bring up.

"Yes," she let hr tone slip for a moment, showing that it was angered but she cleared her throat and started again.

"Yes, Isabella. I would just like to let you know that you have no idea what you are getting into with Edward." she said smiling her Miss America smile at me.

"Well, thank you Tanya but I think I will be just fine with Edward." I leaned back against the door and smiled at her through narrowed eyes. "I mean, he isn't with you now. Maybe it will be different now that he wants to be with me." rubbed it in just a bit that he didn't want her anymore. So basically it translates into: He's with me now, bitch. Back off.

"You're a sweetheart, though, for your concern." I said smiling up at her again. "I'll tell Edward you stopped by." yeah right. Her face mutated back into fury, her jaw setting, eyes narrowing and lips pursed in aggravation.

"I may look sweet, Isabella, but don't get it wrong." she said in such a furious tone I had to hold back my cringe. "I will get him back…and I will not hesitate to kill you." she said in a furious tone but I just glared back at her. She would not scare me. I refuse to let her intimidate me. She turned on the heels of her insanely high back stilettos and strutted back to where ever she came from.

"Have a great day!" I called back to her in a bitterly sweet tone that mocked hers and rolled my eyes as I closed the door behind me.

Today had turned out to be such a great day. NOT!

Hehe! Sorry I took a break guys but it was only for a few days! I tried to make this chapter longer-ish because I am going back to school tomorrow and I might not be back for like a few days so this is just to hold you over! Love you all!

REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!:D

-WbL