A/N: Hey, everyone! I hope you all had a good week.

I was really surprised by some of the reviews for the last chapter. Some people were angry at Bella for getting mad at Edward after he told her about his past drug use.

It might be difficult for some people to understand that anger is kind of a natural reaction to hearing something like that, and it's not always aimed at the addict. Sometimes that anger is aimed at themselves for any number of reasons, too.

Unless you've experienced something like this, it's kind of difficult to understand.

So, try to give Bella a little break. She just took a ride on a very emotional rollercoaster, and needs some time to process things.

Also, while going over some things, I realized I made a mistake with the timeline. For whatever crazy reason, I kept thinking that September came after October, which it doesn't, and since the school year started in August, and more than a few weeks have passed in the story, I accidentally missed Bella's Birthday. Oops! That goes to show just how much I suck at math. Since it's too late to go back and fix things, I thought that maybe I would just make an outtake of her birthday.

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.

Chapter 36 - Aftermath

BPOV

After I had managed to pull myself together, I checked the road for other vehicles before pulling back onto it, and continuing on home.

A few minutes later, I pulled into the driveway, and for once, I was actually happy that my dad wasn't home. He would taken one look at my puffy, red eyes, and want to ask me a million questions that I wouldn't have been able to answer honestly without breaking my promise to Edward that I wouldn't repeat anything he told me tonight.

Unfortunately for me, even though my dad wasn't home, Rose was.

I feel absolutely horrible for thinking that, but I don't really want her to see me either, because she would see that I was upset, and push me until I got everything out that was upsetting me.

And I just couldn't let that happen. Even if I trust Rose with my life, it's better if less people know about Edward's past, because if by some chance the School Board found out about his history of drug abuse, he could lose his job, and despite everything, I don't want that.

I got out of my truck and walked up to the house and went inside. Rose was sitting in the living room watching tv.

"Hey, Rose." I tried to sound as calm as possible, but I apparently failed because she immediately turned around and looked at my face.

She gasped. "Oh my God! Bella! What happened?" she asked as she got up and ran over to me.

I shook my head at her and gave her a sad smile. "I don't really want to talk about, but let's just say that Edward and I finally sat down and talked about the past. Obviously, it didn't go so well."

Rose looked angry. "What did he do?" she demanded.

"I can't tell you that. I'm sorry," I said softly.

"Why the hell not?" she yelled.

I sighed. "First of all, please stop yelling. My head is pounding from all the crying. And secondly, I can't tell you because I promised him I wouldn't tell anyone. That includes you, too."

Rose's face softened a little. "Shit, whatever he did must have been bad though, to affect you like this."

I sniffled a little and replied, "It was. So please don't ask me about what happened again, alright? If I could tell you, I would. You know that, right?"

Rose nodded and gave me hug. "Yeah, I know," she sighed. "You should go upstairs, take a couple of Tylenol for your head, and put a cold compress on your face, so the swelling goes down. You don't want to end up scaring your students tomorrow, because let's face it, you are one ugly crier," she joked.

I rolled my eyes at her. "Gee, thanks a lot," I answered sarcastically."

She smiled at me. "You're welcome. Now go!"

"Okay, okay! I'm going." I turned and started to walk up the stairs, but stopped when Rose called my name.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"If you want me to go over and kick Edward's ass for upsetting you, all you have to do is ask," she replied with a grin.

I chuckled. "And that's one of the reasons why I love you, Rose. But if anyone is going to kick his ass for anything, its going to be me. But thanks for offering."

She shrugged. "No problem. And if that time ever comes, let me know and I'll be there to hold him down for you."

"I appreciate that," I said with a smile. "Goodnight, Rose. I'll see you tomorrow."

The next morning, I woke up with a bad headache from all the crying the night before.

Thankfully, Rose had apparently left a couple of Tylenol on my nightstand sometime last night, or early this morning.

She was also nowhere to be found, which meant she was either in the kitchen, or she had already gone to spend the day with Emmett and do...whatever it is that they do.

Which is kind of too bad, because I really could have used a good kick in the ass to get myself going this morning.

After everything I learned last night, I was feeling a bit more drained than usual. But I guess that's kind of expected.

Before I started to get ready for the day, I ran down to the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee to give me a little bit of a boost, and noticed that Charlie had already left for work, and Rose wasn't there, which confirmed my earlier theory.

As I went through my morning routine, I couldn't help but replay that dreadful conversation.

I just couldn't seem to wrap my head around it. Edward was the absolute last person I would ever suspect of doing drugs. Especially, something as bad as cocaine.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realize that I really had no reason to suspect him in the first place. He kept his grades up and aside from being a total dick to me and a few other outcasts with the rest of popular kids, he seemed like the perfect golden boy.

Then again, aren't those the ones that usually have the most problems anyways? People expect them to be a certain way, and so they do their best to fit the standards of others. But that puts a lot of pressure on them. Sometimes more than they can handle.

I wondered if that's one of the reasons Edward starting using.

Is it possible the pressure of being popular was too much for him to handle?

If that's the case, then maybe I'm the one to blame for all of this. After all, I was the one who encouraged him to join the popular kids. I knew he hated being bullied just as much as me, but at that time, I knew I would never fit in, but he could. I encouraged him to join them, not just to help him, but because I wanted him to try and get them to stop bothering me, too.

So instead of blaming him all these years for ruining our friendship, perhaps I should have been blaming myself.

With those last thoughts, I finished getting myself ready and headed off to the school.

Once there, I made a quick stop in the teacher's lounge to grab another cup of coffee before heading to my classroom. I already had a cup at home, but I had a feeling I was going to need another one to get me through the day.

After I got to my classroom, I started up my computer and checked my email, and found that even after all that went down last night, Edward still went ahead and compiled a list of possible student tutors for me to go over.

I guess I shouldn't have been surprised though. We still had to remain professional after all.

I finished going through the rest of my emails, wrote today's lesson plans on the whiteboard, and waited for the bell to signal the begining of class.

Once that occurred and my students filtered in, I was surprised and slightly disappointed to see that James wasn't among them. Since I had gotten the list of potential tutors from Edward, I was hoping I could go over them with James during his study hall, but I guess that wasn't going to happen.

I took attendance and marked him down as being absent, and then I proceeded to begin our lesson for the day.

About halfway through the class period, I was surprised when the door to my classroom opened and in walked James...sporting a split lip, and what appeared to be the beginning of a black eye. And in one of his hands was a late pass, and a neon pink detention slip.

Didn't I have enough to deal with today?

A/N: So what did you think?

My dean used to use a large bright neon pink slip to write reminders for detentions. I think it was just a way to humiliate students because, when you saw the color, you knew what it meant.

I have a couple of stories I'd like to recommend:

Strange Brew by Magnolia822 - If you love beer, this is the fic for you. Even though this is an E/B fic, my favorite person in this story is Carlisle. The poor guy has absolutely no filter. It's hilarious.

A Dry Heat and it's sequel A Bitter Cold by LovinRob - These stories deal with some heavy stuff, but they are totally worth reading. They are among my top favorites. So check them out!

See you soon!