A/N: Sorry that it took so long to update. I've been struggling lately...it feels like the last time I went in to get highlights, my brain washed down the drain with the peroxide used in my hair. My greatest apologies you guys!
Since I am still not SM, I still do not own anything Twilight (except for a copy the books and movie, of course).

And guess what? My Beta pretty much rocks my world for editing this, yet again. THANK YOU FOR BEING SO DAMN AWESOME, DOINFINE!!! :)

BPOV

My breath caught in my throat as I stole another glance at Edward. I had never once been afraid of him...but now, looking at him, I barely recognized the person who was looking back at me. To say that I was frightened was an understatement.

Fierce and ferocious, he had an angry look to him that I never thought I would see him posses.

Even more unsettling was that underneath the tough exterior that he was portraying cowered a very scared little boy. A boy whose childhood had affected him so intensely that even in the early years of adulthood he had a hard time expressing love.

The sight playing out before me broke my heart into a million little pieces, as I realized that this "foster dad" who was possibly on parole was probably a large portion of the puzzle as to why Edward considered himself so socially dysfunctional.

Struggling to find my voice, I cleared my throat. "Edward...I don't...understand," I choked out.

Edward looked at me and frowned. Unfortunately for me, before he was able to respond, we were interrupted.

It was at that moment that I heard the front door open and close. Seconds later, we were greeted by a beautiful woman who looked like she couldn't have been a day older than 40 years old. Professional and composed, her caramel colored locks of hair cascaded in loose curls down her slender shoulders. As soon as she reached Edward, she threw her arms around his tensed up body and started rubbing his back while whispering what sounded to me to be "It will be okay." Edward relaxed into the embrace that he was currently held in and I stood in awe as I watched his features soften ever so subtly.

Judging by her motherly actions, the woman in front of me who was comforting Edward (in a way that I was unable to, making me feel worthless) was who I assumed to be Edward's adoptive mother, Esme.

I stared at Edward and the woman who was calming him down for what seemed like hours before the woman's eyes locked on me. As soon as our eyes met, she released Edward from her embrace and launched herself onto me, enveloping me in a hug. Releasing me, she took a small step back and smiled.

"You must be Bella," she said, patting my arm.

Smiling as big a smile as I could muster given the current situation, I replied, "And you must be Esme."

Esme nodded. "It is so wonderful to finally meet you, Bella. I have heard so very much about you," she said as I shuddered at the circumstances that I found myself in. This was definitely NOT how I pictured myself meeting Edward's mom- not while Edward was sending me glares that scared me so badly that I wanted to piss myself (metaphorically, of course).

Clearing my throat, I was barely able to produce a sound above a whisper. "I've...heard a lot about you...too," I said, coughing lightly to clear my throat.

Carlisle reached his hand out to grab Esme's shoulder. "Esme, dear, would you mind bringing Bella into the living room? There are some things that I would like to discuss with Edward," he said, leaning into Esme and whispering something into her ear. The gesture made me tense up helplessly...obviously Carlisle was whispering to Esme because whatever he was saying was not meant for my ears. I immediately felt uncomfortable and unwanted, and at that moment all I wanted was to be a million miles from my current location. Like on an island or something.

Feeling unwanted, I straightened my shirt out and turned to exit the room. "That's okay Esme; I was actually going to get going..."

"Bella," Edward interrupted me in a still hostile voice as he walked up to me and grabbed my arm. "You don't have to leave," he said, lowering the volume of his voice to just barely a whisper. He brushed a piece of hair out of my eyes in a fairly tender manner, softening his rough exterior minutely before he continued. "Please, stay Bella."

I was taken aback by the sound in his voice when he asked me to stay. Although still angry, he sounded like a scared little boy. A piece of my heart broke at the sound, and I slowly nodded my head, indicating that I wanted to stay. "Of course I will stay," I said, grabbing Edward's hand, quickly squeezing it, and letting it drop by his side before I walked up to Esme.

"Bella dear, shall we?" Esme said, motioning me to the living room.

I silently nodded as I followed her into the room. Esme sat on the large couch that was centrally located in the room as she patted the cushion next to her. I obliged, and sat down nervously.

"Bella, please relax," Esme said, holding out a hand and placing it on my knee. "I know that this is an awkward situation, but hopefully I can clear some things up for you," she said, straightening up in her seated position.

I looked at her with a questioning look on my face, and she caught on to the fact that I was confused. Taking a deep breath, she opened her mouth to speak. "Bella, you don't have a clue what is going on, do you?"

I slowly shook my head, showing Esme that I had no idea what was happening.

Esme let out a shallow breath. "I was afraid of that," she paused for a second. "Bella, Carlisle told me that Edward wants me to tell you about his life before he became a Cullen," she said, trying to force out a smile but failing miserably.

The fact that this perfectly presented woman was having a hard time faking a smile was terribly unsettling to me. Whatever she wanted to tell me must be...terrible.

And the more I thought about it, the more upset I got. Why is it that Edward couldn't tell me all of this himself? Upset wasn't necessarily the word for it...disappointed was more like it.

As if she were reading my mind, Esme shifted in her seat so she was turned facing me. She reached out and grabbed my hand, and gently patted the backside of it as she started talking.

"Bella, please do not be angry with Edward for not telling you this himself. It seems to me that he has tried to many times but every time he got the courage to do so, he couldn't," Esme said, letting go of my hand and scooting back in her chair so she was looking me directly in the eye.

"I'm not mad at Edward...I'm just a little...taken back that he hasn't been able to tell me this himself," I said quietly, looking at the floor and avoiding eye contact with Esme. The truth was, I was saddened by the idea that Edward was unable to talk to me himself about this. It made me feel like I was an inadequate girlfriend, like I wasn't mature enough to handle it.

The feeling of inadequacy caused my eyes to tear up. I had been trying so hard to be good enough for Edward, and clearly I had failed. Edward didn't even trust me enough to tell me about his past. He had to have his mother do it for him. Seriously, I must be the worst girlfriend in the history of the universe.

At that thought, I felt my eyes tear up a little more. I took a deep breath, attempting to keep the tears at bay, but it was a fruitless effort. Try as I might, I felt a small tear escape and I reached my hand to my face, attempting to quickly brush it away without Esme noticing.

No dice. She saw the tears and immediately wrapped me in a hug. "Bella, dear, please don't cry. Please understand that this is a very difficult subject for Edward to talk about. In fact, I have never talked to him directly about the issue. Please dear, please understand that the fact that he wants to let you know about this subject, speaks volumes about your relationship. Volumes, sweetheart."

The idea that he had never been able to tell anyone before made me feel a little better. But only a little. Call it selfish, call it bratty...but if he couldn't tell me, who could he tell?

Even at this point in my relationship, I know that I could tell Edward anything. ANYTHING. I trusted him with my whole being and loved him with all of my heart, and know that there is nothing in this world that I wouldn't do for him.

I felt my heart sink as I realized the amount of love I held for Edward and the hoops that I would jump through for him. But Edward wouldn't tell me about his childhood...did he not love me as much as I loved him? I felt another round of tears prick my eyes as I turned away from Esme in attempts to console myself as quickly as possible.

But I couldn't help myself, I voiced my fears out loud before I was actually able to think about the repercussions of my doing so. "Does Edward...not care about me...as much as I care about him?" I said aloud while still facing away from Esme. I was mortified that I was unable to keep that to myself, and I wiped a fresh round of frustrated tears from my eyes.

"Bella, look at me," Esme said, raising her voice. I continued to face away from her, wiping the tears off my cheek quickly. "Bella, please look at me," Esme repeated, with a feeling of hurt laced through her voice. I gingerly looked up at her and noticed that she too had tears in her eyes. The sight made my insides churn and I felt the overwhelming need to comfort this woman who I had just met. After all, it was my fault that she was upset at this moment. If I had been an understanding and perfect girlfriend, we never would have been at this point.

I am such a piece of shit for making Esme feel bad. This idea caused the tears that were flowing down my face to become unrelentless, and I started to shake as I slowly snaked my arms around my torso in attempts to keep myself together.

Before I was able to wallow in self pity any more than I already had, I felt Esme get up from the couch and I lifted my eyes to her direction just in time to see her slowly walk out of the room. As I looked at her retreating form, I felt as though the rug had been pulled from under me as the tears that had been subsiding came down in torrents unabashedly. I felt myself curl into a ball on the couch as my body racked with sobs, sure that my relationship was either over or permanently marred by my misbehavior towards Esme.

I shouldn't have been so stubborn; I should have accepted what Esme said and went home and cried myself to sleep in the privacy of my own house. I should have...

Before I was able to finish my train of thought, I felt a pair of arms wrap around me and lift me off the couch. Without opening my tear-swollen eyes, I could feel that it was Edward carrying me.

"Bella, shhhh. Calm down baby, please," Edward said, walking me down to his bedroom. "Isabella, love, it will be okay. I have to go talk to Carlisle, okay? I will be back here as soon as I can, and I will explain everything to you."

I looked up at Edward and sniffled like a child. "Everything?" I said, embarrassing myself at how adolescent I was being.

"Everything," he said in a quiet tone, as he looked down at me with a forlorn look on his face.

Reaching his bedroom, Edward gently placed me into his bed. Reaching a hand to wipe a tear off my face, he bent down and placed a gentle kiss on my forehead before he walked away.

Watching Edward walk away from me, I curled into myself, bring my knees to my chest and wrapping my arms around my legs as I let the tears fall freely from my eyes.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I am not sure how much time had passed, but I eventually cried myself to sleep. I woke up and rubbed my temples, feeling a nasty headache forming from all of my crying. I rolled over and carefully got out of bed and headed to Edward's bathroom.

As soon as I reached the bathroom, I opened the medicine cabinet and took out the bottle of Advil. Shaking out two tablets, I quickly swallowed them and cringed as the pills scratched the sides of my throat.

I walked over to the linen cabinet and pulled out a washcloth. Rinsing it under warm water, I quickly went to work to wash my tear-stained face of any trace of this afternoon's salty transgressions.

I looked at my image in the mirror one last time before I walked out of the bathroom. I noted that my eyes were absurdly puffy and I looked...like shit. And that was putting it mildly.

Walking up to Edward's bed, I pulled his comforter back as I climbed in under it. I laid down on his pillow, taking in and reveling in his scent, as I closed my eyes again in attempts of falling asleep again before Edward came back to his room to "talk" with me.

I was unsuccessful in falling asleep again before Edward returned to his room. I felt the comforter being lifted up as Edward slipped into bed next to me, moving an arm over to mine and pulling me close to him.

We laid like this for a few minutes, spooning, as I braced myself for whatever Edward had to say to me. I was unwilling to bring up the subject, in fear that Edward would break up with me because of my idiotic behavior earlier.

Hell, I would have broken up with myself. I was a fucking IDIOT. But if I was being truthful with myself, if Edward broke up with me, I wouldn't be able to live with myself.

With this thought, I subconsciously tensed up. Edward felt this, and he grabbed my shoulder to turn my body so I was facing him. I obliged, and rolled onto my other side, looking up to Edward's beautiful green eyes.

I stared at him for awhile, taking in how truly handsome he was in case this was the last time I would be able to stare at his perfect features. All traces of his previously furious self were gone, replaced by typical Edward features. Just as I was re-memorizing the contours of his mouth, I watched as his lips turned into a frown. Frowning in return, I reached my hand up to touch his lips and hopefully change his frown into a look of indifference at the very least.

Edward grabbed my wrist before my hand was able to make contact with his face. "I didn't tell you earlier because I was afraid that you would treat me differently," he blurted out quickly, as he moved his hand up my wrist and twined his fingers with mine.

"Edward..."

"No, Bella. It was wrong of me. I love you so much and you deserve to hear everything, straight from me. It was weak of me to request Esme to talk to you- you deserve to hear it from my mouth. You deserve better than me..."

"Stop it Edward. I am the one who acted like a spoiled brat today. I am so embarrassed that I treated Esme like that..."

"Bella, please listen to me. I was the one in the wrong, okay? I would have been upset if you sent one of your parents to tell me something that should have come straight out of your mouth. And would you please stop trying to shoulder the blame here? It is my fault that you reacted that way in the first place, okay? So stop it with the blame game, alright?"

I slowly nodded my head. I wanted to apologize again, but I knew that if I did it would just piss Edward off even more. Instead, I said, "Okay," and left it at that.

"Okay," Edward said, reaching a hand up to caress the side of my face.

We laid like that for awhile before Edward cleared his throat. "Bella, I don't know how to say this, because I have never directly talked to anyone about it. Even Carlisle and Esme...they learned what they needed to from the lawyer handling my case. Although in retrospect I probably should have seen a therapist, I never did. I refused to talk about this, never muttering more than a peep about the subject. But..." Edward said, pausing and shaking his head.

"But..." I repeated.

"But, now it's time for me to tell you. You deserve nothing less than to know why I am who I am today." he said, sadness evident in his features.

"Edward, please understand that I am here for you and that no matter what you tell me, I'll stand by you," I said, squeezing his hand. "I love you Edward, I will always love you. Please understand that."

Edward squeezed my hand in return. "I love you too, Bella. Which is why I am opening up and telling you everything," he said as he released my hand and sat up on his bed before pulling his legs over the side and standing up. He walked over to his closet and pulled out a cardboard box that had been placed on the floor of his closet and put it on top of his bed right next to where I had been laying down. I sat up and looked curiously at the box.

"Open it up," Edward said, motioning to the box in front of me. I carefully lifted the top of the box off and peered inside, gasping as my mind registered what was lying in front of me.

A/N: Muwahahahahahahaha I'm sorry, I couldn't help but do that.

Thank you all so VERY much for making this story reach over 200 reviews! You guys are the shit, seriously!

Okay, so now is the time that I shamelessly plug my new story, "Nothin Can Take You Away From Me." PLEASE go and check it out. Link in my profile! Please, let me know what you think. It would be greatly appreciated!! :) (New chapter should be up in a few days at most).

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Thank you all for sticking around and reading this so far! You guys are WONDERFUL!!