Thank you so much to everyone for reviewing. Like I said before, I am currently studying abroad, so updates may not be as frequent. I'm still trying to get used to life here, but Australia is lovely. Thank you to Mariana, Grimfwaters, night 4, hanna 111, Little Chicago, ded1, anon, and naerts. I appreciate all of your reviews!

Edward

She slept for hours…I wondered if it was just Jasper's influence, or if she was just this drained. She'd seemed absolutely exhausted, especially after my breakdown. Part of me was ashamed at how I'd acted…at how I'd put this on her after all she'd been through. But I also knew that I couldn't help it…I couldn't have reacted any other way. but the pain she'd felt…knowing that I'd seen everything. And I had. In Jacob's mind, I'd seen it all…as though it had been me attacking her. I'd seen her terrified eyes, heard her screams…almost felt her hands on his arms, trying to push him away. She'd begged. She'd pleaded with him to stop…and then she'd stopped. She'd stopped fighting and just cried, her eyes eventually rolling back as she'd dropped against the ground.

And now she was curled up on her side in my arms, murmuring every once in a while. But it wasn't long before she began stirring. Carlisle hadn't come in earlier, and I knew I needed to apologize to him, but I couldn't at the moment. All I could do was hold her and hope that she wouldn't wake up even more upset. "Stop." She muttered, pushing against me, and I closed my eyes, letting go over the still sleeping girl. "Please." My jaw clenched shut and I moved away rom her.

"Edward?" Carlisle and Jasper were outside.

"Come in." I invited softly, sitting up and getting off the bed. I didn't want to hurt her…I just wanted her to be okay. I just wanted her to be happy again. She didn't deserve this.

She's scared."

"Then fix it!" I didn't mean to snarl at him…at Jasper's startled, hurt look, I dropped my head into my hands. "Sorry…god I'm so sorry…" In half a second, Jasper was at my side, his hand on my shoulder.

"It's fine. I get it…it's okay." Suddenly, Bella screamed, an ear shattering, heartbreaking cry, and I looked up in time to see Carlisle jerk back from where he'd been touching her, his hand hovering over her head. Jasper turned in surprise, his hand squeezing my shoulder.

"Can you…" Jasper was shaking his head, watching her with a strange focus, but nothing happened. Instead, she began thrashing, twisting and turning, wrapping herself in the covers, and none of us dared move to restrain her.

"Bella!" That was Alice…I hadn't noticed Alice coming into the room. None of us had. We all watched in helpless silence as Alice grabbed Bella's hands, restraining her. "Bella, stop." She commanded, her voice almost gentle, but not quite. "Bella, please. It's me. It's Alice." She touched her sister's face, her own eyes wet. "Please, Bella. It's me."

After a moment, Bella stopped thrashing, her eyes flying open, and Alice smiled at her, stepping back a little and giving her space. "It's okay, Bella. It's going to be okay. It's just me." Jasper and Carlisle had moved back to stand by me, out of her line of sight, and we all watched in silence as my sister lifted her hand, touching Bella's face. "Okay?" She nodded, her jaw tight as she glanced over at us, then back at Alice. "You want to get up?" She nodded again, taking Alice's hand and sitting up. "You were having a nightmare. It's okay. No one is going to hurt you."

"Jacob." She choked on the name, glancing over at me once more, her eyes not meeting mine.

"Jacob is dead, Bella." She told her gently, touching her hand. "Remember." Bella nodded, shakily, her lips trembling. "Your father killed him."

"Charlie…"

"Charlie is going to come back tomorrow morning. You don't have to talk to him if you don't want to, but you can if you want to." She sat down on Bella's bed, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to worry about that Bella." She murmured, taking her hand instead.

"He…he saw…" Alice sighed, glancing over at me.

"Yeah…Bella, don't worry about that, okay?" Bella shook her head, but Alice stopped her with a hand on her cheek. "Bella, it's okay."

"It's not!" Bella pushed her away, and Alice let her. "He saw, Alice!" She spoke as though I wasn't in the room, but I couldn't really mind. Carlisle was watching closely, and Jasper's hand remained on my shoulder, but he wasn't affecting anyone's emotions. "He knows…."

"He always knew, Bella." She murmured, touching her hand. Bella didn't answer. "He just…he saw. He saw what happened, but…he already knew. It's okay…he loves you Bella." She nodded slightly, her teeth closing around her bottom lip, but she didn't look at me. "Come on. Let's get you something to eat." Bella shook her head, but she didn't notice Carlisle and Jasper backing out of the room, and I stood hesitantly, then hurried outside as well, pushing the door shut.

"Carlisle…" He shook his head, stepping into his office, and both Jasper and I followed, shutting his door behind us. "It's like…she's traumatized again!" I whisper-shouted, and Jasper nodded, dropping onto the sofa. "All the progress she's made…"

"She just found out that you effectively saw Jacob rape her." He spoke softly, sitting down at his desk and dropping his head into his hands. "The things she was most ashamed of…the thing that frightened her the most in her life…you saw it. It's her worst nightmare. She wanted to hide this from us…even calling Emmett and Jasper or asking for help…that would have gone against her instincts."

"She's afraid…she's in pain and afraid and she wants to hide." Jasper closed his eyes. "I can't help. I've been trying but…her emotions are too much."

"We understand, Jasper." Carlisle comforted him. "We don't expect you to be able to fix everything." If we listened, we could hear Alice downstairs, assembling some kind of food, but Bella was still upstairs. She brought a plate upstairs and I heard her speaking softly to Bella.

"Hey. I brought you a sandwich. Can you try and eat?"

The door opened and Emmett peered in, looking concerned. "What's going on?" He asked quietly, gesturing back toward the bedroom where Alice sat with Bella. "Is she okay?" I shook my head.

"No." I sat down beside Jasper. "She…I don't know what to do." He frowned, then let, shutting the door behind him. I frowned, starting to stand as I heard the bedroom door open once more.

"Hey, Bells. What's for dinner?" He asked, making no move to lower his voice or calm her down. I could see in his mind as she looked up at him, the tray of food on her lap, and patted the bed in front of her, making him smile and drop down gently on her bed beside Bella.

"Sandwich." She murmured, trying to smile, but she didn't quite make it. Her eyes were red rimmed…she'd been crying, and I could hear Emmett's sadness.

"Yumm." He spoke sarcastically. "Want me to catch you a grizzly bear? They taste better." She gave a halfhearted smile.

"Do they really taste better than other animals?" He chuckled, leaning back against the fabric on the headboard.

"Eh. Better than deer. But, I have a grudge." He admitted with a shrug, glad to have distracted her. "It was a grizzly bear that nearly killed me."

"Did you find it?" She wondered.

"Oh yeah. I killed him slow…I wonder if he recognized me…" She gave a tiny snort, almost a laugh. "But ever since, I kind of like killing them." He shrugged. In his mind, I watched him reach out and take her sandwich, ignoring her flinch when his hand got too close. But it hurt him. It hurt him to know that she was afraid. He sniffed the sandwich; wincing and handing the plate back to her. "How do you eat that crap?" He wondered with a laugh. Alice gave him an offended look.

"Hey! I made that." Bella's smile became a little more genuine.

"Oh. Well that explains it." He put his hand around Bella's shoulder, watching sadly as she started to shy away. "Bells? You okay?"

"Yeah." She murmured.

"Bells?" He moved slightly away from her, touching her arm instead of sitting against her. "Hey, what's the matter?" I watched anxiously through his thoughts as her eyes filled again. "No one's going to hurt you, Bells." He murmured, squeezing her shoulder. "I wouldn't let anyone hurt you. Okay?" She gave a slow nod, leaning back against him and taking a hesitant bite of her sandwich.

"Edward?" She asked, looking up at him, and I was torn. Did she want me? Did she want him to keep me away from her?

"What about him, kid? He's in the other room…thought you'd like to eat in peace. Hang out with Alice." He shrugged, speaking as casually as ever.

"Is he mad?"

"Mad?" Emmett sounded as surprised as I felt. Beside me, Jasper was talking to Carlisle but all of my concentration was on Emmett.

"He…he saw, Emmett." Her shoulders drooped under his arm, her head dropping. I could smell from the office how the blood rushed to her cheeks, something that happened when she was embarrassed or ashamed. "He saw…and I couldn't fight…he…"

"Shh, Bells. Hush. Don't cry." Emmett put both arms around her, moving so that her head was tucked under his chin. "Listen to me, okay? No one is mad at you. I swear, Bella. No one will ever be angry with you about this, or I'll kill them. It wasn't your fault. I promise, Bella. I know for a fact that he isn't angry with you." Emmett moved back just a bit, putting his hands on her shoulder and looking into her eyes. I saw, through his thoughts, as he wiped at her eyes with his thumb. "It hurt him, to see what happened. He hates that he couldn't protect you…that he wasn't there." Emmett hesitated. "Like Rose…I hate…I hate it Bella. I hate that I couldn't have been there to protect her. I hate that she had to go through something like that, and I hate that you did too. But we would never blame you for this."

For a second, she just stared at him, her deep brown eyes boring into his, as though she were trying to see the truthfulness of his words. Finally, she nodded, biting her lip and leaning against him once more. "Do you want Edward?" He murmured, rubbing her back, and she nodded against his chest. Before he could open his mouth, I was there, taking his place, only able to choke out a 'thank you' to my brother as I wrapped her in my arms, and she didn't shy away or stiffen or try to move…she just leaned against me.

"Any time." Emmett mumbled, touching my shoulder briefly before he and Alice were out of the room.

"I'm sorry." She whispered to me, and it took every ounce of self-control not to argue…it wouldn't help. Instead, I let her finish. "I'm sorry you had to see…I'm sorry this happened."

"Me too." I whispered, kissing her hair. "I am so sorry, Bella."

Esme

The knock came at our door at nine a.m. sharp…I wondered if he thought everyone woke up at 9 a.m. or if he was just unable to wait any longer. Personally, I just though he was tired of waiting, but it didn't matter. None of it really mattered…not with Bella like this and Edward trying so hard to help her and Jacob…that selfish, cruel boy...how could anything else matter now?

"Good morning, Charlie." Carlisle greeted the man softly at the door, and I was surprised at how well he hid his distaste for the human. Even Charlie seemed taken aback.

"Good morning…did I come too early?" He was nervous…we could all almost smell his fear. Jasper stood in the kitchen doorway with Alice, her hand in his. We weren't exactly up to keeping the pretense at the moment.

"Not at all. Bella is still in bed. She probably won't wake up for another hour or so." He nodded, a little smile quirking his lips.

"She was always like that…up early, to bed early…almost never sleeps in." He seemed to forget about us for a moment, then looked back up at Carlisle. "What about Edward? He okay?"

"Edward is fine." I put in, stepping up beside my husband and gesturing for Charlie to come in while Carlisle shut the door. "He's in bed as well. Emmett and Rosalie went to the store…they should be back any minute." That, at least, was true. I'd sent them out for some food for Bella…we weren't exactly running low, but I wanted to make sure the kitchen was fully stocked for her, just in case she wanted to cook.

"So the kids do the shopping?" It wasn't an accusation…he seemed genuinely curious, and I gave a small smile. He probably thought our family was quite strange.

"Sometimes. They volunteered, actually. They wanted to pick up some things for Bella, but they wanted to be back before she woke up…Emmett, especially, has been wonderful with her."

Charlie nodded, his jaw tight, and I was silent for a moment as I waited for my husband to speak. We had all moved to the living room, Jasper and Alice on one loveseat, myself and Carlisle on the sofa, and Charlie in an armchair. "Charlie…what happened yesterday…you must know, we don't blame you at all for what you did." My husband began, leaning forward and regarding him seriously. "I seriously doubt anyone would blame you. But…if word were to get out about what happened to Bella…if it became news…it would be very harmful to her already fragile state." My son was looking at the ceiling, his focus obviously on Bella, and I lifted an eyebrow, glad Charlie's focus was on Carlisle.

"She's awake…" He told us quietly, his voice too low for Charlie to hear. We hadn't expected her up yet…then again, she'd been sleeping a lot lately. Maybe her body was finally adjusting…finally healing.

"You think…you honestly think we can keep this a secret." Charlie spoke in a flat, disbelieving tone.

"It isn't uncommon for children to run away. That is what everyone will assume happened." Carlisle told him simply. "None of us will say otherwise."

"And Billy?"

"Frankly, I don't care." Carlisle had nearly lost his courteous tone, and both of our children looked at him in surprise. I squeezed his hand gently, not quite a warning, but a reminder. "My only concern right now is Bella's wellbeing. If what happened to her got out, it would be very painful for her. She's trying to get past this, but it is difficult for her right now. So yes, I think we can keep this a secret, as long as you tell no one what happened. No one will find his body. No one will have any reason to suspect you."

Charlie swallowed noisily in the quiet room, and I wondered if it was Jasper's influence that finally had him nodding. My son could be very persuasive when he needed to be. Upstairs, I heard Bella speaking quietly to Edward, and asking about her father.

"He's here." He told her. "We can go downstairs and see him if you want." I wasn't sure what she said…maybe she was silent, but the door opened to their bedroom. "I'll wait out here while you get dressed, okay?"

"Okay." I focused back on the conversation in front of me…Carlisle was simply telling Charlie once more that they didn't need to tell Billy what had happened.

"That's his son, Carlisle." Charlie sounded mildly disapproving, but before my husband could answer, the front door opened.

I stood when Rosalie and Emmett entered the room, their arms full. I took some of Rosalie's bags, giving her a small smile. "Thanks." She murmured, more for Charlie's benefit than anything. Emmett nodded to Charlie, his smile friendly, but his eyes were tight.

"Hey, Charlie. How are you?"

"Hello, Emmett." He mumbled, leaning back against the couch, looking tired.

"Is Bella up?" He wondered, although he could hear her as well as the rest of us…minus Charlie.

"Why don't you go see?" Carlisle asked with a small smile, and Emmett chuckled, placing his bags on the kitchen counter. Rosalie smirked and began putting the groceries away.

"Here. Take her this. It's her favorite." She tossed Emmett a candy bar and he nodded, holding the chocolate gently, his face grim for a moment. I reached out, touching his shoulder.

"Thank you." I murmured. He smiled, his eyes turning gentle for a moment, and he kissed my cheek before heading upstairs. Once I'd helped Rosalie place the groceries in the cabinets, we both joined the rest of our family in the living room. Instead of focusing on Charlie, I listened to Emmett upstairs.

"Hey Em. Bells. It's me. Can I come in?" We heard Emmett tap on the door, and Edward invited him in.

"Hey Emmett."

"Hey Bells. Brought you something." I heard her laugh softly, and thank him. "You want to come downstairs?" I couldn't hear her response, but she must have said no, because his answer was nonchalant. "Okay. We'll hang out up here." We heard the bed squeak as Emmett sat down, and Bella laughed quietly once more. It was wonderful to hear her laugh…I wanted to go upstairs with her and see it. I wanted to see her smile. I missed her smile. I missed her laugh and her happiness…I just wanted my little girl to be happy again, to be free of all this pain.

"Esme?" Jasper was looking at me, his voice too soft for Charlie, but Carlisle was looking at me, and Rosalie took my hand.

"Hm? I'm going to go check on Bella." I told them, a bit distractedly, and Carlisle nodded, still looking worried, but went back to speaking with Charlie about Bella's recovery.

When I got upstairs, it was to find Emmett lounging on the bed, his shoulder against Bella's as she nibbled on a chocolate bar, and Edward sat on her other side, cross legged by her hip, glancing up at me with a smile. "How is she?" I wondered, before greeting Bella.

"Better…not hysterical anymore. Jasper isn't doing anything…she's calmed down."

"Good. And she's eating."

"It's a candy bar." He was almost laughing…I was just as happy as he was to see some progress, even if it was such small progress.

"It's something." I told him with a shrug. "Is that good?" Bella nodded, offering the candy bar to me with a small, amused smile, and I shook my head with a laugh. "No thanks. I'm not hungry." I assured her. Edward's smile widened.

Reaching out, I pushed her hair behind her ear, inwardly celebrating when she barely flinched. "How about some real breakfast?" I wondered as Emmett pulled the remote from the covers, flipping on the TV.

She hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Okay." She seemed about to ask something, but I stood, having an idea of what had her worried.

"I'll take care of it…I'll bring it up when it's ready, okay?" With a grateful smile, she nodded, and I hurried downstairs to make her something to eat.

Bella

I wanted to see my father. I didn't want to see my father. I wanted to assure him I was okay. I wanted him to leave. I wanted to cry or scream or hide or sleep…I didn't know what I wanted….so I focused on eating a candy bar and letting Esme cook for me and sitting under Emmett's arm, his cool arm a reminder that I was safe. My big brother wouldn't let anyone hurt me. He would protect me. And Edward was right there…right next to me, almost touching me. The TV was on…I focused on that when the candy was gone. I focused on the high quality picture as Emmett flipped through the channels, on the numbers ascending into the 300's…I wondered how many channels they had. Why did they even have TV? Did they actually like watching it? Or was it another part of the façade? Did they really need the best cable package in Forks? I saw them watching movies sometimes, but their collection was ridiculous. Maybe they did like TV and movies. They all seemed to enjoy computers. What had they done for fun before the internet and TV? Had they all liked reading? Had Jasper even had free time….or Alice? What about Alice? What…

"Bells?" I jerked back to awareness, realizing that I'd been spinning in circles in my mind. Emmett was looking down at me, then back at the TV. "You okay?"

"Yeah." I told him quickly. "Fine."

"Okay…so is this okay? Or do you want to watch something else?" The TV was playing some sitcom I'd watched with Renee a few times.

"Uh…that's fine." I didn't really care. He knew I didn't watch much TV on my own.

"Esme's almost finished with your breakfast. She'll bring it up and you can eat in here." Edward was trying to soothe me. He was always trying to soothe me these days…what was wrong with me? "Bella?"

I pulled away from Emmett suddenly, and they both moved slightly out of the way when I stood. "I'm going to go see him." I declared suddenly. I had to do something. I had to make some kind of progress. This was progress…or something like it. It would show them that I was healing. And I wanted to assure my dad that I was okay.

"Okay." Edward spoke slowly, and I heard him stand and follow behind me. Emmett stood as well, following us out into the hallway. "Bella…you know you don't have to." He hesitated, reaching out and touching my shoulder. But I did. He didn't understand…I had to see my father. I had to show him that I was okay. I had to show my family that I could function like a normal person. I had to show myself that I could function like a normal person. I was okay. I was healing. I was…not thinking about Jacob or Edward's face after he'd watched those terrible memories or how he'd held me…

"Bella? Kid, you sure you're okay?" Emmett's hand was on my back and I shoved those thoughts away.

"Yeah. Fine. I just wanted to say hi. Maybe I can help Esme with breakfast." With that, I headed down the stairs, keeping Edward's hand in mine. He came along obligingly enough…he obviously wanted to be close. Just in case. In case I fell apart. In case I couldn't really do this. Could I do this? What if I couldn't do this? But before I could really allow myself to think about that, I was standing at the bottom of the staircase, looking into Charlie's eyes…Edward let me clutch his hand when Charlie jumped to his feet.

Jasper and Alice were on their feet as well, watching him closely, but Charlie was ignoring them in favor of looking at me. "Bella." He sounded so sad and sorry and worried…I walked into the room, Edward's hand still in mine, only letting go at the last second as I forced myself to walk into my father's arms. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath, but I wasn't going to fall apart.

'He's hugging me.' I told myself firmly. 'That's all. He's my father. My whole family is here…they won't let him hurt me.' And after only a second, he released me back to Edward who took my hand once more, waiting for me to move closer to him before sitting down. Emmett sat on my other side, on the same sofa as Jasper and Alice.

"You…you look better Bells. You…um…do you feel…better?" I pretended that he didn't seem so worried. I pretended that he was just here for a casual visit.

"Yeah. I feel fine." I told him simply, smiling briefly at Carlisle who was keeping a close eye on me.

"Carlisle said that, uh…that you're going to be staying here for a while." I nodded, tightening my hand around Edward's. Emmett shifted just a little closer, his shoulder touching mine. "That's…I mean…I think that's a great idea. If that's what you want. You got a room and everything?"

"They gave me a room, yeah." I told him with a calm smile. Right at that point, Esme brought out a plate of food, and I remembered that I had planned on helping her.

"Would you like anything to eat, Charlie? I made extra." Esme offered, touching the top of my hair before sitting next to Carlisle.

"No…thank you, Esme. I already ate." He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, probably about to stutter through some small talk, when Edward spoke up.

"So, Chief Swan, how are things at the station?" That was all it took, and, obviously grateful to have a topic he knew how to talk about, Charlie began filling us in on everything from small town gossip to actual police news. My family did an excellent job pretending to care and engaging with him…or maybe they did care. Either way, the kept him calm and talking all the way through my breakfast.

At some point between small talk and gossip and baseball, something happened. The tension seemed to melt away, and I almost felt normal. It had nothing to do with Jasper…I could recognize his handiwork by then. I felt like I was actually relaxing. Letting them go on about the baseball match from the day before, I let myself lean against Edward's side, his arm moving around me, and, while Charlie's head was turned, his lips touched my hair for just a second. Smiling, feeling more and more normal, I leaned my head against his shoulder and tried to let myself relax.

Charlie only stayed for about an hour. As he was leaving, he told me goodbye quietly, not trying to hug me again, thankfully. I felt better, but I didn't want to push it. Carlisle pulled him aside, speaking softly in the doorway, and then on the porch, but I didn't question it. I didn't care. I just didn't want to be upset again…so afraid and closed in. I felt okay. I was feeling like myself and if I just didn't think about the other stuff…I made myself breathe, still leaning against Edward. His hand was rubbing up and down over my arm, his lips against my head again.

"Are you okay?"

"Please stop asking me that." I didn't mean to snap…I didn't want to yell at him. He was helping me. He was so kind…Jasper didn't speak. He just soothed me, adjusting the atmosphere until I was calm once more.

"I'm sorry." I shook my head, turning to him and trying to forget about the others in the room.

"No…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…" I bit down on my lip. "I'm okay. I think…I'm feeling better." He nodded, smiling.

"Good. Would you like to go out for a while?" I nodded. As much as I loved this place, a day out with Edward sounded wonderful.

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter.