Stephenie Meyer owns the characters. Skillet owns the song.

A big thanks to JanineJacobs for reviewing on every chapter so far. You're the best thank you. Okay guys, so this is the last chapter and then it's the epilogue. I've had a really fun time writing this story and it saddens me that it's come to an end.


Chapter 28

Edwards' POV

Jane left for another midnight appointment after we had sex, probably the best sex she ever had. I had to make good on my promise or she would have gone to the press with Bella's photos. I wiped the tears away for the hundredth time. I've been sitting in the music room for over an hour now, staring at the opened bottle of vodka in front of me. I feel sick after the sex with Jane and I know I promised Bella that I wouldn't drink so much anymore but I really, really need that drink right now. Fuck, what has my life become? I need vodka to get through some hectic shit. I mean I have faced my daughters' death and I have overcome the guilt and the loss. But this, this is just the worst fucking part of my life. How the hell do I get through this shit? I grabbed the bottle and took a swig, at first it burned my throat but then I took another swig and couldn't stop. I downed half the bottle and placed it back in front of me. My fingers rested on the white keys of my keyboard and when I started playing on them, perfect notes filled the room, but this wasn't that kind of a song; this was going to be a fucking hard rock song. I'm feeling miserable and like a useless piece of shit. It feels as though I'm slipping away, as if I'm falling…I shook my head and played the intro again and I'm feeling frustrated because it doesn't sound good, the song needs drums and electric guitar. I wrote this song a couple of days ago and just finished composing music for it and now that I want to practice it, it sounds horrible with just the keyboard.

"Hey bro," Emmett said walking into the room. How fucking weird was this? I was about to go and get him and ask for his help and here he comes with a big ass smile on his face if I might add.

"What's the fucking smile about?" I asked sarcastically.

"You'll see; why the mood?" he asked.

"How the hell can you still ask that question after so many weeks?" I asked frustrated. He knew exactly how I felt; he was the only one who knew what I was going through. He looked around the room and when his eyes saw my bottle of vodka it wiped that smile right of his face. Now I was the one with a big ass smile on my face, 'coz I've never seen a smile disappear so quickly.

"Aah man, if Bella sees that bottle in front of you she's going to freak out." He moaned.

"Your sister is not my boss Emmett," I said angrily.

"Don't let Bella hear that-"

"Let me hear what?" she asked and both Emmett and my heads snapped up. Where the hell did she come from?

"Um, nothing." I quickly said and met Bella's gaze, "Since both of you are here, I wanted to ask you something?"

"So then ask." She said and something was different with Bella and Emmett. They looked…fucking pleased with themselves and I couldn't help but wonder what the hell is going on.

"Um…I wrote a song a couple of days ago and only finished composing the music. I wanted to practice singing it now, but it sounds like crap with only the keyboard. Can you please help me out?" I asked.

"We'll be happy to; I hope it's another hard rock song, I love your hard rock songs." Emmett smiled and I felt my heart swell. I love Emmett like a brother and to hear him say that he loves my hard rock songs does my image good. I gave them the sheet of music; Emmett looked at it and threw it down, he was really good at what he did. Bella placed hers on a stand in front of her and picked up her black electric guitar. She looked so hot and sexy; I shook my head to erase the images that flashed in my mind.

"Enjoy that last bottle of vodka Edward, because trust me, it will be your last bottle." She commanded and I couldn't believe my ears. She just gave me permission to finish the bottle and I didn't miss the stupid grin on Emmett's face. They are up to something, I can feel it. I took her advice and took another swig of my bottle.

Bella's faultless strumming harmonized with me and the keyboard as we played the intro. My heart went frantic when Emmett struck his drums with the drumsticks. Every sound and note was faultless and it sounded fucking amazing.

"Tonight I'm so alone

This sorrow takes a hold

Don't leave me here so cold

Never want to be so cold

Your touch used to be so kind

Your touch used to give me life

I've waited all this time,

I've wasted so much time

Don't leave me alone

'Cause I barely see at all

Don't leave me alone, IIIIIII'mmmmmm

Falling in the black

Slipping through the cracks

Falling to the depths can I ever go back?

Dreaming of the way it used to be

Can you hear me?

Falling in the black

Slipping through the cracks

Falling to the depths can I ever go back?

Falling inside the black

Falling inside, falling inside the black

You were my source of strength

I've traded everything

That I love for this one thing

Stranded in the offering

Don't leave me here like this

Can't hear me scream from the abyss

And now I wish for you my desire

Don't leave me alone

'Cause I barely see at all

Don't leave me alone, IIIIIII'mmmmmm

Falling in the black

Slipping through the cracks

Falling to the depths can I ever go back?

Dreaming of the way it used to be

Can you hear me?

Falling in the black

Slipping through the cracks

Falling to the depths can I ever go back?

Falling inside the black

Falling inside, falling inside the black

Black

Black

Black

Falling inside the black

Can you hear me?"

My body was shaking from the hurt that filled my heart, my mind and soul. I grabbed the bottle of vodka and downed the rest of the bottle. Like I said, I was falling and I don't know if I was able to find my way back. It's like I'm blinded. Bella's hands rested on my shoulders and a sigh escaped my lips. Her hands feel so warm as if her hands burned through my shirt and touched my skin.

"I'm-"

"Don't say anything Edward, you'll find your way back I promise. I know you're hurting now but just trust me on this." She whispered and I didn't have the strength to say anything. That song touched me in a way I never imagined was possible. I feel so depressed right now and I feel so much hurt and agony that it's impossible to think straight. I'm falling inside the black; Bella was everything to me and I've lost her forever.

"Bella, your love keeps me alive." I whispered right before I broke into sobs. She gently pulled me into her arms and ran her fingers through my hair, kissing me on my forehead over and over again. It feels like I'm in a dream, everything seems so unreal right now.

"Emmett help me to get him to bed." I heard her say to Emmett. He helped me to stand and I threw my arm around his neck. I leaned onto him but he had no trouble dragging my ass to my room. I'm fucking wasted right now; what did I expect after drinking a whole bottle of vodka. Blackness came over me as I felt Emmett pulling my shoes of.

Bella's POV

"How did everything go with Mike?" Emmett asked and I hushed him. We were still in Edward's room and I didn't know if he could still hear us. I pulled Emmett's arm and dragged him with me out of Edwards' room.

"Sorry Bells, I wasn't thinking." He apologized before I could say anything.

"No it's fine. The first two copies are being delivered to me tomorrow morning. One for Edward and one for Jane." I said with a smile.

"What's the plan?" he asked and to be honest I didn't have a plan.

"I don't know Em, I just thought I'd give them each a copy of the magazine and let them read it first. I don't want to get into an argument with Jane and get upset by her. I win either way."

"I'll be here anyways. That's one crazy ass bitch and there's no way I'm leaving you unprotected." He said and I started laughing. That sounded weird but I'm relieved that he was going to be by my side. I explained to Emmett what I wanted him to do tomorrow morning while I was at the doctor. I haven't told Edward about this appointment because I wanted him to be alone while reading my interview or article. Emmett agreed before he kissed me goodnight.

After I took a shower and crawled into bed I couldn't help but think about tomorrow. Tomorrow everything comes out into the open. Tomorrow I might know the sexes of my babies. Tomorrow I might get my future back. It's still hard for me to believe that Edward kept this from me. He's been having a fake relationship with Jane for almost five months; he's been sleeping with her for almost five months. I understand that he did it to protect me but still, I went through hell for five months because I thought I have lost his love forever. I had to deal with the fact that I was going to be a single mother to three babies. It's just a lot to deal with and to know it was for nothing makes me furious.

I love Edward more than anything in this world and nothing would make me happier than to be with him forever, but he has to get past his issues and get past this Jane ordeal first and then he must make a decision. If he chooses to have a life with me; we're seriously going to have to talk about the trust issues in our relationship. We've been struggling with this since the first day we met and we really need to get past this now and start building a relationship with trust. It could have saved us both a lot of pain.

Edwards' POV

I woke up with a headache, again. What's new? I sighed when I slowly got up and my head pounded painfully. This shit has got to stop at some point. I heard Jane in the shower, humming. Why does she get to be happy? Both me and Bella's lives are ruined because of her and she get to be the happy one. It's just so fucking unfair. I went to the kitchen to find some Tylenol or something and found Emmett sitting by the kitchen table, holding a big brown envelope in his hands.

"Morning dude, what's up" I said with a moan and he chuckled. I found the Tylenol and swallowed two down with some water.

"Never been better.' He said with a grin and I furrowed my brow. "I've got something for you." He handed me the brown envelope.

"What's this?" I asked and he stood up, punched me on my shoulder and chuckled.

"Your freedom. You might want to open that some place private." He suggested and left the kitchen still laughing. I poured myself a cup of strong black coffee and walked to the music room. I took a seat on the couch and finished my coffee first before I opened the envelope. I gasped when I saw the front page because to my surprise it was a picture of Bella, a very recent picture of Bella because she's pregnant and…and…it looked like this was taken a few days ago. I turned to page twelve where I found her article and my heart sped up.

"Searching for my destiny…and found it," I read and saw a picture of Bella sitting on the floor with her legs crossed and laughing, really laughing and she seems so happy.

"Every girl has the same dream when they are little; they dream of finding prince charming, getting married and riding away on a white horse living happily ever after. But that wasn't one of my dreams because at that time I already had my prince charming. My dreams were to become a famous singer and to find my true destiny. That dream came true sooner than I thought but there was always this part in me that felt incomplete like something was missing.

Here I was on my first tour and we just did the Forks concert. I was supposed to be happy, out of my mind happy but I wasn't because I was twenty-two-years old on the verge of my big career as singer, my band was one the most famous bands in the world…and I was four weeks pregnant! Of course my prince charming was extremely happy but he couldn't understand my fear of becoming a mother and a wife. I didn't even understand it myself.

After the Forks concert Jake took me for a ride and we were stopped by two men. I begged Jake to not get out of the car, but he had such a good heart that he stepped out and asked them if he could help them with anything. Of course that decision changed our lives forever…

I was brutally raped over and over again by these two men. They beat me up and raped me for almost seven hours. Seven hours of excruciating pain, seven hours of pure hell, seven hours of fear, fear for your own life and fear for your prince charming's life. That's when I realized that even though seven hours doesn't seem that long, it could feel like days if you're being held captive. Jake was blacked out most of the time but when he came to, they beat him up pretty badly and he had to witness them raping me and beating me.

After a few hours I couldn't feel anything anymore and the will to live died with every touch of those two men. I even felt my life slipping away as they raped me repeatedly. They made Jake look while they did all these things to me and as I'm sitting here today telling the story, I can still see the agony in Jake's eyes.

Just before the sun came up they shot Jake in front of me and they must have thought that I was going to die anyways so they didn't waste a bullet on me. They left us for dead. I remember Jake crawling to me and I can still hear him breathing with difficulty but he never left me after that. No matter how hard it was for him to breathe he stayed with me until help arrived. Jake covered my brutally beaten up body with his shirt and made me promise that I would follow my dreams and make them come true. At that moment I felt that I was going to die so I promised him that I would do this. He also made me promise that I would live my life and be happy and so I promised him again that I would. But deep down I wished for death and would have welcomed it no questions asked.

I sang to him while he died in my arms, I had to watch him take his last breath; I had to watch my prince charming die. I remember when my brother found me I still had my arms around Jake and I wouldn't let go. I clung to him while crying my heart out.

I was in a coma for six weeks. When I woke up my brother had to tell me that I lost my baby. I lost Jake's baby. At first I thought that I was being punished for not wanting the baby in the first place, but I know better now. There's a purpose for everything that happens in life…I had to learn this the hard way.

I went through absolute hell when I came out of the hospital. I had flashbacks of the rapes, I missed Jake and…I met a man that awoke feelings in my heart that I never even knew existed…not even with Jake. Don't get me wrong, I loved Jake with my whole heart, just not the way a woman should love a man that she wants to marry someday. I knew Jake since I was a little girl and I grew up loving him, I was used to Jake and I never thought that the love I felt for him wasn't the real thing.

I had to come face to face with what happened to me and I overcame it all; I overcame the fear, the bitterness, the lifelessness, the numbness, the emptiness and the pain those men caused in my life.

Edward helped me face these emotions and he helped me to trade them in for so much more. I traded the fear in for Edward's arms because this is where I felt safe and I knew I had nothing to be afraid of while I was in his arms. I traded the bitterness in for forgiveness, which was probably the hardest thing I have ever done in my entire life. But I also realized that you can't go through life with a heart filled with bitterness and hatred. It's easier to forgive. I traded the numbness, lifelessness and emptiness for Edward's love, because his love filled my life with joy, hope, trust, forgiveness, honesty, but most importantly his love filled my heart with love. And the pain disappeared without me needing to trade it in. Edward's love erased everything I went through. I may have lost my prince charming but those only last in the fairy tales anyways, what I've got now is so much more than a fairy tale; it's true life with true love…no bullshit and no magic…it's the real thing and it's so much better than make-believe.

I can't say that I hate what happened to me and I can't say that I enjoyed what happened to me; what I am going to say though is that even if I get a chance to do everything over, I'll go through that shit again because it made me stronger and it made me realize what real love is, it brought me to the man I truly love with every part of me, it brought me to my triplets that I'm expecting in four and a half months, it brought me to my destiny!

My face was soaked after reading the article about her life. The love that filled my heart for Bella just now was unexplainable. The way she talked about me in this article was so much more than I ever dreamed about. I never thought that I helped her get over her rapes, I thought she did that all by herself and Jake…oh man, how stupid of me to have felt so insecure about her feelings for him. All the times that I ran out on her because she whimpered his name or dreamed about him was unbelievably stupid. I handled everything wrong back then and I should have…my head snapped up…Bella's life is out in public now and I don't need to lie anymore. I'm a free man. I don't have to be with Jane anymore. I jumped up and ran to my room but she wasn't there. I went back downstairs and bumped into Emmett.

"Where's Jane?" I asked and Emmett smiled.

"She went to her office, but don't worry, you can expect her in about ten minutes." He said with a grin and I frowned.

"Why?" I asked in confusion.

"Because a copy of the magazine was delivered to her personally thirty minutes ago." He said calmly. He knew about this.

"How did this happen?" I asked him.

"Yesterday morning after Jane caught you in Bella's bed, Bella got suspicious and after you and Jane left she went into your room and started going through Jane's stuff. She found the file that Jane had of her and she demanded to know everything. I told her everything bro." he explained and I felt my heart pound hard against my chest and it felt painful.

"Was she angry?" I dared to ask and Emmett huffed.

"She was beyond angry bro, she was fucking pissed." He grinned. Yah I figured that much. I knew Bella and I know I'm probably not off the hook. Which reminded me…?

"Where is Bella by the way?" I asked him.

"Doctor's appointment, she moved the date so she wouldn't be here when you read the article about her. She wanted you to be alone."

Just then Bella walked through the door and I saw tear stains on her cheeks. I couldn't stand being away from her a minute longer. I ran to her and wrapped my arms around her sobbing into her neck. "I love you more than words can say." I whispered and I felt her chest heave and knew she was crying with me.

"You're not getting off that easy Cullen, but I love you too and it's so good to hear those words coming out of your mouth right now." She sighed. I looked into her eyes and lifted her chin slowly with my index finger. I slowly leaned in and as our lips touched I felt electricity jolt through my whole body. I cupped my hands around her neck by her jaw-line and moaned when she lightly brushed her lips against mine. We just brushed our lips against one another's, enjoying the feel of each other. The memories of Bella and me kissing were tattooed on my heart and mind and I thought about them every minute of every day. I could remember the feelings that went through my body as I thought about the memories, but this…this was way different than anything I've ever experienced. I don't know if it's just because I've missed her or if it's because we've been longing for each other, I don't know…but these sensations that's going through my body right now while our lips move in harmony together are unbelievable. She slowly pulled away from me and I couldn't help the moan that escaped my throat. Bella and Emmett chuckled of course and for the first time in a really long time, Bella's eyes were sparkling. She was happy again and me too. The hole in my chest disappeared as if it was a bad dream. I can't even remember the emptiness that held the place in my heart. I can only feel love now, love, compassion, adoration, happiness and relief. "You're going to be a daddy to a little baby girl and two boys Mr. Cullen" she said with a smile. My heart raced away and if I thought that I couldn't be any happier I was wrong, because this was it.

Jane barged through the door holding the magazine in her hand and I felt rage fill my body.

Bella's POV

"Did you know about this?" Jane yelled at Edward and his face turned red out of anger. I could see his whole body shaking.

"If I would have known, you wouldn't be here now. I would have kicked you out long ago." He yelled back. Emmett held me back and we watched Edward and Jane yell at each other. Edward had a lot of anger in his heart that he took out on Jane, not that I blame him though, she caused me and Edward a lot of pain and heartache.

"You can't just kick me out." She said and I gasped. Was she for real?

"The hell I can't. Are you mentally insane or just plain stupid or thickheaded?" he hissed.

"Edward, we've been through a lot together and I thought-"

"Well you thought wrong. You have ruined my life Jane; for five months I lived in absolute hell because of you, excruciating pain filled my heart every single second I spent with you. You knew how much I loved Bella, you knew how my heart, body and arms longed for her but you didn't give a shit as long as your selfish ass got what you wanted." He said hatefully, "I almost became an alcoholic because of you, because I couldn't bear the thought of touching you without being drunk and even then…even then the alcohol didn't help because every time that I touched you or you touched me I felt sick to my stomach and it made me nauseous. I started drinking more so that I could pass out if you have sex with me. I hated you every single second of every single day for the last five months." Edward said and I saw the pain in his eyes over confessing this. It broke my heart to hear what he had to go through with Jane.

"I'm sorry-"Jane started saying but that's when Edward lost it.

"You're sorry…that's it…you're sorry. Sorry doesn't cut it Jane. I have missed five months of my life with Bella because of you. I had to witness her go through heartache over losing me to you, I had to lie to her every day about my love for her, I had to make her believe that I didn't love her because you were to selfish to think about someone else for a change. I had to see those beautiful brown eyes die because of you. I had to hurt the only woman I love in this world because of you…well no more. I'm done," he said and sounded really tired. Jane started crying and fell to her knees.

"I love you Edward, that's why I did it. I love you." She sobbed.

"You don't know what love is…" he yelled. "Unbelievable," he threw his hands in the air out of frustration. I walked to Edward and his eyes softened and the hate and anger was replaced with love and adoration and pride.

"I do know what love is," she yelled in hysterics and I couldn't take this anymore.

"No Jane you don't. If you knew what love was you wouldn't have forced Edward into a relationship with you? You wouldn't have blackmailed him. If you loved him you wouldn't have forced him to have sex with you or to even have kissed you. Love doesn't ask for anything in return Jane, you give love without expecting something back. Love isn't selfish Jane. I truly love this man with my whole life; I gave him up because I honestly believed that he loved you. I gave him to you on a silver platter because I thought he was happier with you and I never interfered even after I found out that I was pregnant. I stayed out of your relationship and never tried to get back with Edward, even though it broke my heart every time you kissed him or held his hand or when I had to listen to you have sex with him at night. You almost broke Edward, but my love kept him alive, my love gave him strength to face you every day, my love held him together. I was patient and he came back to me, because love is kind and patient and doesn't ask for anything in return." I said.

"I hate you Bella," she yelled.

"I'm supposed to feel the same about you Jane, but I've been through worse than this and I had to learn the hard way that hate is a really powerful word. It can control your life forever and I've decided that I'd rather forgive and live free than to hate and be a prisoner." I said and I knew it was true. I didn't hate Jane, I felt sorry for her but I didn't hate her.

"You've got one hour to pack your stuff and leave. And Jane I don't want to see you ever again. Believe me when I tell you that I can make your life very difficult if you would interfere in my or Bella's lives ever again." Edward said. He took my hand and we walked to the music room.

"Okay let's talk," he said seriously and I chuckled.

"I love you and I trust you. I don't want any more secrets between us from now on. I don't care who blackmails who and about what, we talk to each other from now on." I said.

"I agree and I'm sorry, I realize now that I was being stupid by keeping this from you. I should have talked to you about it and left the decision to you. But please realize that I would protect you with my life Bella, I will do anything for you." He whispered intensely.

"I realize that now baby," I smiled and he chuckled. "I want to apologize for something too." I said and Edward frowned in confusion.

"I want to apologize for leaving in the middle of the night. I was wrong in doing so and I must admit that it was utterly stupid of me. I could have saved our relationship a lot of pain if I just stayed with you and faced my shit here with you. That was the first mistake I made and first heartache I caused us and I'm really sorry."

"I agree with that as well, but it's in the past Love. We've got our whole future ahead of us and I'm planning on enjoying every moment of it." He said with a smile.

"And the arrival of our triplets," I said. Edward placed both his hands on my belly while he knelt in front of me and kissed my stomach over and over again. "We need to discuss names baby." I whispered and he nodded.

Jane left after only thirty minutes and me and Edward spent the rest of the afternoon with Emmett and Rose in the living room. We laughed and joked around.

"Now that we know everything about the triplets we can start preparing the nursery." Edward said with a smile and my heart went into overdrive seeing him so happy.

"And shop for furniture for our house." I said and Edward turned to look at me.

"That would be awesome," he said and lightly brushed his lips against mine. It sent shivers down my whole body and I realized just how much I missed Edward.

Edward and I went to bed and for the time being he moved into my room because, and I don't blame him for this, he doesn't want to be in his room where Jane was.

I lay in Edward's arms after we made love for the first time in months, which was rather difficult with the huge belly I had.

"What are you feeling Love?" he asked me while gently tracing patterns on my stomach.

"For almost five months, my heart has been an open wound. Blood kept streaming out every time I spoke to you or saw you with Jane, and every time I would come into my room and stitch the wound up but before the stitches could even do their job and before the wound could close, something happens and the wound open up again." I whispered and I remember the pain I went through then, "But now, that open wound is completely stitched up and you've done a pretty good job with the stitch work Dr. Cullen because there won't even be a scar to remind me of the pain I went through." I said with a smile.

"I love you so much Bella and I promise you that from now on we'll only be happy. No more heartache and sadness." He said and I felt his lips on my head. "Thank you for the article Love, it meant the world to me."

"No need to thank me baby; all of it was true"

"I'm proud of you Bella," he whispered and my heart beat picked up. I haven't felt this much love in a while and to know that I'm finally with the man I love and I'm lying in his arms makes my life worth living. My will to be dead, died long ago because I have something or rather someone to live for, Edward and my triplets, they make my life worth living for because they are my destiny.

The end.


Epilogue is next! Please please please review and tell me what you thought.