Author's Note: My bad! I posted the super short chapter last night and literally fell asleep typing this chapter. Luckily Microsoft Word saved the document when my laptop died. But this one is a loooong one. And yay, another Edward POV!

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns all that is recognizable. Damn writing genius...

Chapter Twenty: "Fight For Me" Edward's POV

"Bella, sweetie," I murmured to her as she robotically gave Jake his bottle. "You've been wearing that shirt for almost three days."

She looked down at the stained, stretched out t-shirt, blushing. "Yeah," she said. "I don't need to dress up if I'm not going out into the real world."

"So go out into the real world," I suggested.

"I do, occasionally…"

"But always with the bugs," I pointed out. "Careful, love, you're going to suffocate Jake."

She tiredly looked down at her son, more color filling her cheeks at my term of endearment. That little extra blush made my heart leap. She noticed for the first time that she was holding Jake tightly against her, forcing his bottle into his mouth. He looked uncomfortable. I held my arms out, and with a sigh she surrendered him to me. I plucked the bottle out of his mouth and put him over my shoulder to burp him.

"I'm sorry," she sighed. "I feel like my brain is a big bowl of oatmeal mush seasoned with baby formula and Dr. Seuss books. They're only six months old, but it feels like they should be in their toddler years by now."

I smiled at her. "Go out into the real world, like I said. Go have lunch with Emily. I doubt you even remember what the real world is like."

"I can't leave Abby and Jake…" she protested, though I could tell that the idea of hanging out with Emily sounded nice to her. Emily came over sporadically, but Bella was always distracted by the bugs. I knew they missed each other's company.

"Yes, you can. I'll baby-sit," I offered.

She bit her lip, turning her eyes to Abby, who was asleep on the couch. "Um…okay," she said flatly.

"Go get a shower and put on some fresh clothes," I told her. "Enjoy your day."

She gave me a grateful hug and ran to the back of the house. After a few minutes, I heard the shower kick on. To distract myself from the fact that Bella was in the shower, I lifted Jake above my head and tried to make the airplane noises that Emmett was so good at. Abby woke up pretty soon after that, so I grabbed a book and settled the bugs in my lap, reading over the noise of Bella talking to Emily on the phone.

When she came into the living room, I know my eyes widened. She wore a pair of tight jeans and a blue blouse. She had lost most of her baby weight, and she looked fantastically curvy. "You look very pretty," I complimented her.

"Thanks," she said, blushing. "Alice left a surprise in my closet. A few surprises, actually."

"I know," I replied with a smirk. While Bella was busy with breakfast this morning, I had let Alice go to her closet and leave all the new clothes there.

Bella instantly glared at me. "Why didn't you stop her?"

"Because you deserve a little pampering," I replied. "Come on, Scarlett. A lady like yourself should be spoiled and often, and by someone who knows how."

She rolled her eyes, but a smile broke out. "Don't disrespect Gone With the Wind. I never heard of such bad taste!" she added in a Southern accent.

I laughed. "How fickle is woman."

"Indeed," she said dryly. "Are you sure you'll be okay with them?"

"Of course," I said, slightly offended. "They're six months old. How much trouble could they get in?"

She snorted. "Alright. I, um, have my cell phone, and I won't be gone long. I'm riding with Emily. Don't forget that Jake has a diaper rash and Abby-"

"Has had a runny nose, I know," I filled in for her. "Sweetie?"

"Yes?"

"Stop worrying. Enjoy your time with Emily."

She nodded slowly. "Okay. I trust you. You're Edward, not some teenage girl I'm paying seven dollars an hour…wait, do you want me to pay you?"

I rolled my eyes. "It should take you exactly four seconds to cross from here to that door. I'll give you two."

She raised an eyebrow. "Breakfast at Tiffany's?"

I grinned. "Of course. Audrey Hepburn is one of the most beautiful women in the history of the world. One Mississippi…"

"Okay!" she laughed, taking the hint and rushing to me to kiss Jake and Abby. "'Bye, bugs," she cooed to them. "Be good for Uncle Edward. Don't run him off just yet. Mommy loves you two." She looked up at me, pressing the sweetest of kisses to my cheek. "'Bye, sweetie. I'll be back in under two hours."

"Take your time. Two Mississippi…"

She kissed my cheek again and ran to the door, grabbing her purse. "'Bye, my loves!"

I shuddered at the way the term of endearment so easily dripped off her lips. It was going to be a good day, I thought. I snuggled down with the twins, kissing each of them once, and started to read again.

We were interrupted a couple of hours later when my cell phone rang. Bella. I smiled as I answered it. "Hey, love."

"Hey," she said dully. "Emily and I are going to stay out a little longer. Is that okay?"

"Of course," I replied. "We're having fun. Bella, are you okay?"

"Yes." She paused. "Just tired. See you later."

"Okay, sweetie," I said hesitantly. "Call me if you need me."

"I will." She hung up without a goodbye.

"Your mommy worries me," I sighed to the twins just as my phone rang again. My mom this time. "Hi, Mom," I said, answering it.

"Hey, darling. I need your handyman skills again."

"Oh?" I asked dryly, still worrying about Bella.

"Yes. I bought a new bookcase for your father's office, but he isn't home to help me build it…"

"I'm babysitting the bugs right now, but I'll call Bella and tell her that I'm swinging by your house. Give me thirty minutes."

"Oh, I'd love to see the children!" Mom exclaimed as if she hadn't seen them yesterday. "See you soon, honey."

"'Bye, Mom."

I dialed Bella again and explained everything to her. She didn't have a problem with me taking the twins out. I loaded the car-seats into my Volvo and buckled Jake and Abby in before driving to my parents' house.

Alice was at our parents' house, so she entertained the bugs while I helped Mom put together the shelf. After the shelf, I replaced some light bulbs for her and did other odd jobs around the house. Then I made brownies with Mom and played with the bugs. The hours ticked by, and I still hadn't heard from Bella.

Finally, at nine pm, the bugs were asleep and I was about to load them up and take them back home. Just when I stood up to do it, my phone rang.

"Bella?" I said, remembering her depressed tone from earlier.

"Edward?" she slurred, dragging out my name. "Can you come-" She hiccupped for an instant before adding "Come pick me up?"

Is she drunk? "Bella, have you been drinking?"

"Just a…sip…" she replied.

Ha. And I'm a monkey's uncle. "Where are you?"

"The Wolf Pack…the bar in…La Push."

"I'll be there ASAP," I replied. "Stay there. Don't leave. Don't drink any more."

After I hung up, I turned to Mom, who was wide-eyed. "Can you keep the bugs for the night?" I asked her. "Bella isn't in such a great condition."

"Of course," Mom replied. "Oh, dear, I hope she isn't drinking to make herself feel better."

"I've never seen her drink," I replied. "I'm pretty pissed off at Emily Uley for letting her get drunk, though. Um, there's enough formula and diapers in the diaper bag to last you until tomorrow. I'll pick Jake and Abby up when Bella isn't puking from a hangover."

"I'll keep them as long as you need me to," Mom said. "Go help Bella."

To say I sped a little on my way to La Push was an understatement. I was pushing ninety. What were the police going to say if they pulled me over? Sorry, sir, but you can't speed on your way to rescue the chief's only daughter?

I didn't like the Wolf Pack. I enjoyed a beer or whiskey just as much as the next guy, but the Wolf Pack was trashy and just plain grimy. The owner, Paul something-or-another, didn't have the greatest reputation among the legal world of Forks. My coworkers had told me about a lawsuit against him a couple of years ago.

When I pulled up, I didn't even cut the engine before going inside and finding Bella. She was sitting at a barstool, downing some kind of shot.

"Bella," I said, my voice cracking in relief that she was safe. "Come on, sweetie. Let's go home."

She turned to me with a large smile and threw her arms around me. "Edward!" she exclaimed rather loudly. "Dance with me."

"Not tonight," I said, ducking to pick her up and cradle her in my arms. "You have kids now, you know."

She weakly slapped at my chest. "I…don't…need your h-h-help with walking."

"The way you told me that pretty much tells me that you do," I replied sharply as I walked us out of the bar. "What were you thinking? Where's Emily?"

There was something about Emily's name that seemed to sober her up-just a little. "Um…Sam and E'ily…went home. I told them that you would pick me up." After effectively dragging out her consonants, she suddenly leaned up and pressed a slightly-wet kiss to my cheek. I mentally scolded myself for feeling a twinge of excitement at that meaningless kiss.

I buckled her into the front seat of the Volvo and ran to my side of the car. Once I was driving, I brought my other question up to her. "Bella, what were you thinking?" I demanded. To put herself in danger like this…she had confided in me that she couldn't hold her liquor well…

"I…needed…to forget," she stammered, staring out the window. "I feel…dizzy."

"I'm not surprised," I replied, cranking up the air conditioning of my car. Cool air could prevent vomiting. "You're wasted."

"I'm very drunk and I intend on getting still drunker before this evening's over," she quoted Clark Gable before turning and giving me a funny look. "Where are the bugs?"

"At my parents' house. Were you even thinking of them when you started to drink?"

She slanted her eyes, studying my face. "You're not as…beaut'ful…when you're angry." And then she dramatically dropped her head on my shoulder, inhaling my scent.

God, I was flattered. But I knew that was most likely the alcohol talking. Finally, I pulled up to her house and helped her out of the car.

"Edward?" she slurred as she collapsed on the couch in the living room. "Am I a…bad person?"

"What?" I asked her, crouching down beside the couch and smoothing her hair. "No, sweetie. You just made a bad decision tonight."

"Sam Uley said…I'm dishonoring Jacob…." Her voice sounded thick with tears. "Because you spend the night with me ev'ry night." Before my heart could even react, she grabbed my face and pulled it down so we were inches apart. I could smell the alcohol on her breath. "Am I a bad person?" she stage-whispered.

I had to admit, if she were happier, Drunk-Bella would be pretty darn adorable. Especially the way she touched me. But Sam Uley's comment about the two of us dishonoring Jacob…well, that stabbed right through my chest like a knife warmed in a fire. "No, Bella," I assured her again. "People are just talking. People love to have something to talk about."

Bella rolled her eyes and shakily stood back up. "Well, I no longer care about being the topic of…gossip!" she yelled quite loudly before stumbling to the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" I asked her.

She turned around and looked at me through half-shut eyelids. "Just stay right there, darling," she said in what was meant to be a comforting tone, dragging out the R's.

I sighed and flopped back on the couch, waiting for her to come back. After a lot of noisy bustling in the kitchen, she came back with a half-empty bottle of whiskey, taking a long drink of it.

"Whoa, sweetie," I said, standing up to go take it from her. "You've had enough."

"This is Jacob's whiskey," she mused, staring at the bottle with a penetrating glance that stopped me dead in my tracks. "He always enjoyed a shot every now and then. Well, here's to you, Jacob Black. Here's to your damn heroic endeavors that left me abandoned and alone." She knocked back another long gulp. "God bless America," she added in a long slur.

"Bella," I said firmly. "You smell like a brewery and you can't walk straight. Give me the whiskey."

She ignored me and sat in the rocking chair, tucking the bottle under her arm. "You know what's really funny?" she asked me. Now that her mission to drink Jacob's memory had failed, she was suddenly very honest and she was making sense. Her words were slurred and she stumbled as she walked, but she had some heavy stuff on her heart that was dying to come out of her mouth. The alcohol just made her brave enough to say it.

"What's really funny, love?" I asked her, sitting at her feet in the floor.

"I was the one who encouraged Jacob to enlist," she admitted. "He couldn't find a job as a mechanic and he always wanted to…defend his country, or something. My patriotic husband…when I told him to go enlist, it was like I had made his dream come true. He wanted to be the one to turn around the War in Iraq." She took another drink, and I unsuccessfully tried to swipe the bottle from her. It returned to its spot under her arm. "So from a certain point of view, I could eas'ly be seen as the reason he's dead." Her eyes grew distant and filled with grief.

"No, Bella, you're not the reason he's dead," I told her gently. "For all we know, Fate wanted him dead, and even if he did work as a mechanic, he could have been killed by an engine fire or something."

"Fate…" Bella mused, staring into the neck of the whiskey bottle. "Do you know what I want to say to Fate? That she can take her stupid plans and shove it right up her-"

"I get it, Bella," I said to her. "I completely agree. Sweetie, can we please go to bed? Give me the bottle."

"No," she replied. "I'm tired of keeping all of this bottled up." She suddenly smiled and snorted. "Get it? Bottled up?"

Okay, so excluding all the depression and self-blame, she was a really entertaining drunk. "Yes, love, I get it," I said. "How many have you had?"

She shrugged. "I'm doing good. I haven't passed out yet."

"I see that," I replied dryly.

She took another long drink, this time missing her mouth by a fraction of an inch. "You know," she mumbled. "He's not coming back."

"I know," I whispered. "I'm so sorry, Bella."

She looked at me quizzically. "Isn't that what you want?"

Don't you understand my feelings for you at all? Can't you see that I want you to be happy, no matter the pain for me? "No," I said in a breathy tone. "I would never wish that kind of pain on you."

She closed one eye, as if trying to see me more clearly. That probably was what she was doing. And then she put the almost-empty bottle up to her eye and looked at me through that. Finally, her eyes shut and her teeth took her bottom lip captive. She was worrying…or wondering…either way, she was hurting. "You love me," she whispered.

"More than anything," I admitted.

She looked at me, still chewing her bottom lip. The weight of this conversation had definitely sobered her up some. "Do you know what the difference is between you and Jacob?" she whispered.

The fact that he still has your heart? "No," I said quietly.

She let out a bitter laugh. "Jacob dedicated his life to fighting for his country. You have dedicated your life to fighting for me. Fighting for my health, and happiness, and my children…" Her voice trailed off for an instant, and tears started rolling down her face. "Is it wrong to love you more for that?"

Wait…what? "Bella, you're drunk," I said softly. "You still love Jacob."

"Of course I do," she replied. "God, Edward, why do you have to be so goddamned sensible about things?"

"Because when you're dealing with a person under the influence, you have to be the adult in the situation," I said firmly, looking her in the eye. "Bella, it's bedtime."

She shook her head, openly crying. "Why aren't you fighting for me now?" she whimpered. "Why are you just watching me and judging me?"

"I'm not judging you," I replied. "I'm wondering why the hell you decided to try to drink your sorrows away."

"Sam Uley," she said softly. "That's all."

I was definitely going to have a talk with Sam and Emily Uley. Especially for leaving Bella at a bloody bar. I clenched my fists, making my knuckles go white. Come on, Edward. Keep yourself under control.

"Edward?" Bella said again, still in a soft tone. "Fight for me. Please."

"What do you want me to do?" I asked her.

She bit her lip and placed the whiskey bottle on the coffee table. "Hold me."

I stood up and held out my arms. She stood up and fell onto me, refusing to support herself. I awkwardly managed to twist us so I could fall onto the couch with her on top of me. She laid there for a while, ruining my shirt with tears that reeked of booze. Even though she was drunk and probably wouldn't remember this, I still relished the feel of her body so completely covering mine. She was perfect for my arms.

But eventually she stopped crying. I thought she had fallen asleep or passed out until she dragged her head up to look at me. "Edward?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"I love you." Her brown eyes stared into mine, and I couldn't resist smiling at her.

"I love you, too."

Her hands grasped my face, and I read her intentions before she leaned her head into mine. I held still and accepted her kiss on my cheek. Slowly, her lips trailed down to my jaw, and caressed the skin there. She had circled around my jaw when she slowly dragged her lips to the corner of my mouth.

I knew then that I had to turn my head. I was dying to kiss those beautiful ruby lips, but I wanted our first kiss to be loving. Passionate. Sober, at the very least. Something that she would remember.

I looked to the left, and her soft kiss landed on the side of my face. "Edward, don't pull back," she begged.

I sighed. "Bella, we can't do this. You'll regret it in the morning."

She shook her head, the tears falling again. "No. I won't. There isn't room in my heart for another regret."

"That's what you think now," I told her. "But it's my experience that when you don't feel your heart is big enough to hold anymore, it swells up to a bigger size."

She nodded slowly. "Yeah…" I had no idea if she was comprehending what I was saying.

"Come on, darling," I told her, sitting up. "Let's go to bed. I promise you I'll hold you throughout the night."

She slowly slid off my lap, and I had to catch her from falling. She was going to be so sick in the morning. "I guess I should change into my pajamas before I pass out," she muttered. "Since you don't seem to want to ever see me that way…"

I sighed. "You're misreading me," I admitted, holding onto her arms so she wouldn't fall. "I love you, Bella. I just don't think you're ready for another relationship. Especially when you're not in your best frame of mind, and you don't have much judgment or discretion."

She nodded, eyeing the whiskey bottle again.

"I'll put that up," I offered. And pour it out. "Come on, let's go to bed."

She hesitated. "One more thing, Edward."

"What's that?"

She awkwardly started doing something with her hands. I was confused for a moment before I realized that she was drunkenly trying to pull her wedding rings off. I watched in amazement as she freed her finger from them, and tossed them across the room. They landed behind a loveseat.

"Don't pick those up," she warned me.

"Yes ma'am. Let's get you to bed, sweetie."

She didn't protest this time. She let me lead her to the bedroom. I gave her privacy as she changed into pajamas, but only after she insisted on kissing my cheek one more time and telling me again that she loved me. Not that I minded that. After she had changed and just before she was about to sit on the bed, her eyes grew wide and she grabbed her stomach, leaning over. I sighed as I saw her vomit all over the floor. I ran to her and caught her just before she passed out.

It was going to be a fun morning.

My mother always says that the truth comes out through alcohol.

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