DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS FROM TWILIGHT. THEY ALL BELONG TO STEPHENIE MEYER.

EPOV

Watching Bella leave the room I wondered what I had gotten myself into. Was I ready to open up yet? To try to work through my problems? I wanted to for Bella but I really didn't know if I was ready. I had the feeling that Derek was going to let things go at my pace. Something that I was thankful for, because I didn't know how much I was ready to share.

I looked at Derek to find him watching me intently. It started to unnerve me, until he spoke.

"You really love her don't you?" He asked me and I blinked at him. This wasn't something that I was expecting him to say. I looked at my hands and nodded slowly. "Anyone can tell. The look on your face when you look at her. It's complete and utter devotion there, nothing else." I looked at him to see him smiling at me. It wasn't the smile that he had used in our first session. It was a smile that knew, that understood how I felt. I looked down and saw that he had a wedding ring on, so there was a very good chance that he did indeed know how I felt about Bella. For some reason, that thought comforted me slightly.

"She's my everything." I whispered and he nodded, still looking at me, smiling.

"I can tell." He replied. "She feels the same way about you, you know?" I looked up at him. "You should have seen her at the hospital after.....well....anyway, she was there all the time. She refused to leave your side unless she was phsyically removed. She loves you." I smiled slightly and he grinned at me. "Why don't you tell me about her."

"What do you want to know?" Talking with this tube was getting easier to do, even if all I could manage was a volume barely above a whisper.

"Well, how did you two meet?"

"In Biology, at school."

"What happened?" He seemed genuinely curious. Whether or not that was part of his job, or whether he was really interested in what happened I don't know.

I shrugged. "Introductions. You know, the whole "what's your name?" "where you from?" deal."

"Did you notice anything different about Bella? I mean, you were the new kids in town right? There had to have been something about her that drew you to her over everybody else. I mean, good looking guy like you-" I grimaced at that comment. "No. Edward, you are. Don't take this the wrong way, because I am married, but you are. You are a very good looking young man." I looked at him and saw only honesty in his expression. "I'm sure you had girls all over you that first day."

I shrugged again. In all honesty, I didn't really remember the first day of school, other than meeting Bella and seeing her huge brown eyes for the first time.

"Am I right?" He asked, knowing what the answer was. "You had girls throwing themselves at you didn't you?" I smiled slightly and nodded. "So. What drew you to Bella? There must be something special about her. Something you saw when you met her."

"I don't know." I said honestly. "Maybe, it was......because.....she actually spoke to me. The first thing she asked me wasn't "will you go out with me?" or "are you busy Friday?" I don't know. Maybe it was because she wanted to know about me you know? I mean, yeah she started out with the typical "what do I ask the new kid" stuff but it was better than anything else I had gotten all day." I looked down at my hands again, not really focusing on anything. "She made me smile." I whispered that last part but he heard me and his expression changed. How I don't know, it just did. It was like his eyes became full of concern.

"And you never really smiled before she came along did you?" I shook my head glumly. It was true. Since I'd lost my parents I hadn't really been able to smile. It was something that pained me. But there was something about Bella, something that made it impossible not to smile or at least feel like smiling when I was around her. "What happened then?"

"Teacher started talking." I said matter-of-factly. It was true. The teacher had started talking by that time.

"What about the next time you saw her? When was that?"

"The next day. I was at my locker and she just appeared. She asked me if I wanted to spend our free's together, so I said yeah."

"That's not something you would usually do, is it?" He asked and I shook my head. This guy has obviously done his homework. "Why do you think you accepted?"

"I don't know." I honestly couldn't remember why I'd said yes. All I remembered was the desire to just be with her. I don't know what it was. Maybe it was the fact that she was the only girl I'd met who hadn't tried it on with me. Who had just sat there and talked to me.

"What happened? Where did you go?" He asked softly.

"We went out to the field. And we just sat under a tree. It was nice." I knew that he wasn't going to accept that as a full explanation so I thought that I might as well elaborate. Talking about Bella was one of the only things I didn't mind. It felt kind of nice to be talking about her. "She asked me what I thought of the town, and it kind of went from there really. It was nice, being able to talk about simple things. Things that didn't really matter. Until....." I trailed off.

"Until?" He questioned me, a look of concern on his face.

"She, um, she saw one of the, um, bandages on my arms." I whispered. This is where it got hard. It was hard enough to tell him that much. Talking to Bella was certainly a lot easier than talking to Derek. Why, I didn't know, because I doubted that he would judge me either, but for some reason it just was. "She asked me what happened. So I told her."

"I bet that was hard." I nodded, not looking at him.

"She asked me why. She thought that it might have been the move. Until I told her that it was because of me that we had moved." I sighed. "I could see the look of concern on her face, but it was different to everybody else around me."

"How so?"

"I don't know. It just was. It was like, she really felt for me, as a person, not just because she felt that she had to." I shrugged again, not knowing how to explain it. "I don't know. It was just different with Bella." I looked out the window that was parallel to my bed. "She promised not to tell anyone, and I believed her. I wouldn't usually have but there was just something about her that made me trust her. Maybe it was because she didn't immediately judge me. That I know of anyway."

"Bella doesn't seem like the person to judge without getting to know a person inside." He sighed. "You want to know what I think?" I looked at him and nodded slightly. "I think that you never told anyone because you knew how they would react. There's always been this kind of stigma surrounding self-harm, and that's why you didn't tell anyone. You knew that if you did, it would be them avoiding you rather than you pushing them away." I blinked. He was actually right. "And when you met Bella and she asked about it, she didn't react in the way that you thought she would and that gave you a little hope. That there were people who wouldn't judge out there. That one small act on Bella's part, gave you a tiny slice of hope in believing that not everyone is as judgemental as you think they are. Am I on the right track?" I didn't know what to say. Michael was right. This guy was good. I nodded and he smiled. "What happened after that?"

"When I went to Biology I heard her friend interrogating her about a secret that she had. I knew what she was talking about and I felt.....I don't know.....betrayed. I mean, she had promised not to tell and at that point I thought she had." I took him a deep breath. "It turns out that she hadn't told, and I heard her basically telling her friend where to go." I smiled at the memory, still not quite believing that I was telling him this. But then again we weren't really getting down to anything deep and I enjoyed talking about Bella so I wasn't too uncomfortable, which is probably what Derek was looking for and I silently thanked him.

"How did that make you feel?" Derek asked crossing his hands in his lap, still staring at me intently.

"Better." I sighed. The quizzical look on his face suggested that he wanted me to elaborate. "I don't know. I guess it felt good to know that even though she'd been asked about it, she didn't tell. I made me feel like I might have had......a......friend." I whispered the word friend and I immediately saw Derek's face soften. I shook my head gently and he smiled at me.

"You got a lot more than a friend." He sad in soft tones. I knew that he was right. I did gain more than a friend in Bella. I would even go so far to say that I'd found someone that I could love. "When did you tell her about your disorder?"

"Um, about a week later." I admitted. It was about that. I remember being kept off school, but I couldn't remember how long it was in between. "We were at her house and I told her. I don't know why, but I just felt like she needed to know the truth, you know? I felt bad. Lying to her." I shrugged again. "I couldn't keep it from her anymore." I could feel tears welling up in my eyes, threatening to fall. "I couldn't lie to her anymore. It hurt to lie to her."

"Okay, I think we'll leave it there for today." He said in soft, reassuring tones. "You did really well today, Edward. It must have taken a lot for you to open up to me like you just did. I'm proud of you." He stood up and gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze before leaving the room.

Bella walked through the door a moment after he left. She sat down next to me and put her arms around my shoulders, pulling me into a loving hug, being careful of the tube.

"I am so proud of you." She whispered, gently in my ear. She placed a finger underneath my chin and gently lifted my face up to look her in the eye. She had tears welling up in her eyes and a look of pride on her face. "That must have been so hard for you, and I am so proud of you, sweetheart." She placed a gentle kiss on my lips. "How do you feel?"

"Um," I hesitated. "Okay, I guess." I gave her a small smile.

She lay down next to me and put her arms around my waist, snuggling into my side. I pushed myself down so I was no longer sitting up but lying down next to her. I buried my head in her soft brown curls and breathed in the scent of strawberries that I loved so much. She giggled at my actions and I couldn't help but smile. I don't know what it was but this girl had some sort of power over me. A power that made it so I couldn't help but smile around her. When she was around, nothing else mattered. It was just me and her. Edward and Bella. Bella and Edward. Nothing more, nothing less. And that was fine by me.

I must have drifted off, because the next thing I knew there was a knocking at the door. I opened my eyes groggily and saw that Bella was also asleep next to me, her arms still clinging around my waist as though they were her lifeline. The knocking came again.

"Come in," I called as loud as my voice would go and the door opened slowly. It was a nurse with a tray of food for Bella.

"Oh, I'm sorry dear." She said, placing the tray on the table next to my bed. "I didn't mean to wake you. Just brought some lunch up for the young lady." I put my head back on the pillow and closed my eyes as she moved around the bed and came up beside me. I felt her fingers on my cheek and I jumped slightly, trying to move away from her touch. "It's okay. Just checking that it was still in place, that's all. No need to worry." She turned away from me and I could hear her doing something with the machine that was next to my bed. She was changing the bag over, making sure it wasn't just Bella that had some food. I couldn't help the scowl that spread across my face. I still hadn't forgiven this place for hooking me up to this thing. "There we are. All sorted now." She smiled at me and left the room.

Patronising cow, was the only thought that went through my mind before Bella began to stir. I looked down at her as she opened her eyes, adjusting herself to her surroundings. She looked up at me and grinned and I couldn't help the small smile that tugged at my lips.

"The nurse brought you some food." I said, nodding my head in the direction of the tray. Giving me a swift kiss, she sat up slowly and pulled the tray onto her lap. She gave me a look as if to ask "are you sure its okay?" and I nodded at her, signalling that it was. She slowly began to eat, as I closed my eyes, merely enjoying her presence.

When she was finished, she set the tray back onto the table and squirmed her way down the bed, pulling the duvet up to her chin and smiling at me. She reached out and pulled the duvet up so it came up to my ear lobe and then put her arm back underneath, wrapping both of her arms around my waist again. I mock scowled at her, but didn't move the duvet.

"I really am proud of you, you know." She mumbled against my chest as she pressed her ear to the spot just above my heart. "It was very brave of you to talk to Derek earlier."

I responded by kissing the top of her head and wrapping my arms around her, pulling her in as close to me as I could without aggravating my ribs. I sighed and buried my head into her hair again, earning myself another giggle.

"What?" I asked, looking down at her.

"Nothing," She replied, smiling up at me. "It's just so cute when you do that." She giggled again, and I smiled at her. She was so honest, and I knew that it was going to get her into trouble some day. She looked at me again, after she was done with her giggles. She pressed a hand to my cheek, being wary of the tube. "Go back to sleep love." She whispered, kissing my chin. Before she could move her head, I ducked mine down and gave her a deep, passionate kiss.

Breaking the kiss, I settled my head on the pillow and sighed. I heard her do the same, only instead of a pillow, it was my chest. I didn't want this moment to end. Me and Bella. Yes we may be in a clinic of sorts, but for now, it was just the two of us, in our own little bubble, that no one could burst.

And it felt right.

So Edward has opened up a little to Derek. It may only be about Bella, nothing too substantial, but it's a start.
It's putting him on the road to accepting help. And Bella may even use the "for me" card again. Maybe.
Anyway, I love reviews, so a few of those will help me update faster.
Ciao!! xx