-1Hey! What is this? ANOTHER update this week? Why, yes, it is. Haha, if I become scarce, it is because I'm working on writing up a play (surprisingly difficult to do) for English class and trying to bring up my history grade. But I'll try to keep up on the posting!

BPOV

A loud yell made me bolt upright from deep sleep into complete wakefulness. It was close, and so full of pain that it made my chest constrict. I figured someone had to be dying, tortured.

It was Edward.

His breathing was labored, eyes wide, yet unseeing. Sweat caused his beautiful hair to cling on his forehead, and he was shaking uncontrollably. I heard pounding footsteps from upstairs, but ignored them, instead twisting over and half-crawling so that I was crouching to the side of, almost in front of, Edward.

Placing my hands on either side of his face, I gently brought his eyes to meet mine. "Shh," I soothed. "It was all a nightmare, Edward."

I could see that it would only take one small thing to push him over the edge into crying; his eyes were drowning in his unleashed tears. It was hard for me to understand his situation, but even harder to get why he wouldn't allow himself to cry. It was bad to keep things locked away like he did, and I just knew it was going to backfire on him someday. Someday soon.

He scoffed bitterly, quietly. "No, it all really did happen, Bella."

I wrapped my arms around him, leaning forward so that I was pressed firmly against him and allowing him to know through touch that I was there for him. I rocked him slightly as he dropped his head onto my chest, his arms helplessly coming around my waist as he finally seemed to actually let go. Though it seemed almost… mean to think it, I believed that the only reason Edward was letting go right now was because his sleepy mind wasn't holding back through his over thinking. If he were fully awake, this wouldn't be happening.

The door behind me yanked open, the light from the hall spilling in, and I glanced over my shoulder to see Carlisle, Esme, and Alice peeking in behind them. Edward didn't notice, just continued sobbing into my chest. I wasn't too sure what to do, but I just followed my intuition, rubbing his back soothingly and making hushing noises. Esme touched Carlisle's shoulder, and he glanced back at her, then followed when she began stepping slowly and pointedly away. Alice sent a small sad smile at me before closing the door, leaving Edward and I in the dark again.

"I've lost them both. And I couldn't do anything to stop it. It's my-"

"no," I snapped firmly and lowly. "Don't you dare blame yourself Edward Anthony. If you do, I will seriously smack you, depressed or not."

He shook his head, not looking up. "It doesn't matter what you think Bella. It only matters what I know."

I shook my head, brushing a hand through his hair. "You're wrong," is all I whispered.

Slowly, we laid back, him still crying hard, and soothed him until he slipped into sleep again. I wouldn't tell him, but it was tearing me apart seeming him like this. He was blaming himself for his mother's suicide, for his father's death, for everything that went wrong in the lives around him. And on top of that, he was hurting; I wished there was some way for me to make it all better for him, like waving a magic wand, but there wasn't. The best I could do was be there for him through his suffering, which somehow didn't feel like enough. It would have to be though.

I brushed a hand through his hair once again, staring down into his face. It hadn't relaxed fully, not even in sleep, and I wanted to smooth the wrinkles and frown lines with my fingers. I'd probably just end up waking him though, which wasn't a good idea.

After a few more minutes, I carefully unwrapped his arms from around me, slipped as undisturbingly as I could out of bed, and tiptoed into the kitchen.

Not a minute after I sat at the table in there, small, dim yellow light on for me to see the cookies I was dunking, Alice appeared in the doorway and joined me at the table, pulling close so she could also reach my cookies and milk. We ate in silence for a while, before she finally spoke.

"He's not doing too great, is he?"

I shook my head, then shrugged. "He's not doing great, but I don't think it's as bad as it can be." After a pause, I added, "He got in a fight earlier tonight."

Alice shook her head. "He'll be reckless like that for a while."

"Great," I muttered. I didn't doubt what Alice had said as anything but true. For one, she was almost always right, and for another, I'd drawn almost the same reluctant conclusion.

After a few more dunked cookies, I turned to her. "How are you doing?" I felt sort of bad as I asked it, because I had taken so long to getting around to doing so. Edward had been rather distracting.

She smiled gently. "Don't worry about me. I was never very close to Elizabeth, and though I'm terribly sad that she died - especially the way that she did - I'm more sad for the people who are really suffering. Esme was still crying when Carlisle and I got home. He carried her up into their room and they didn't come down until Rose and Em had finished fixing dinner." Then she rolled her eyes with a soft snort. "Bella, if those two ever offer to make you dinner, say no. They can't cook."

I giggled quietly, but nodded knowingly. Rose had tried making me pudding one year when we first met for my birthday. It… didn't go well.

Yawning, Alice soaked one last cookie and ate it in one bite. When she finished chewing, she whispered, "I'm going back to bed. Don't stay up too much longer."

"Night," I whispered as she walked out of the room. I was incredibly sleepy, but the cookies were so good, and I was kind of glad to have some alone time to myself to think.

Edward had pushed me away, and during the time we'd been apart, he'd gotten into a fight and done who knows what else. But he'd come back to me. He hadn't pushed me away for long. I could only hope that that remained true, and he didn't try to seclude himself again. To me, I figured this was going to be worse than his father's death. With that one, he was able to speak to him before he died, and he wasn't the parent, but the child. Now, he came home to find her dead - Carlisle had told me what the cops told him, and that Edward had seen that made my stomach hurt. There was a note, that the cops had taken for whatever reason, but would be given back eventually. It was addressed to Edward. I wasn't sure if I wanted to steal it back, or burn it before he got it; I couldn't know which without reading the contents. Then there was also the fact that Edward had been responsible for his mom, because she hadn't been able to take up her proper position of mother. It would probably be different to lose someone you'd worked so hard to take care of for so long.

I dunked one cookie in too hard, mashing it on the bottom of the small cup, and glared into the cookie-chunk filled milk. I couldn't believe how Elizabeth had done something so selfish as to kill herself, when it was obvious it would be fatal to Edward. For me, it was unimaginable how someone could feel so defeated in life that they thought death was the only option left to them. Maybe I didn't want Edward to read that note - she had always accused him of his father's death when drunk, and being drunk usually, as far as I knew, didn't make people say lies, just things they wouldn't normally admit to. I didn't want to chance those being the last words from his mother that Edward knew.

Sighing heavily, I figured I might as well go back to the bedroom. I didn't want Edward waking up to find me in here with my mind in a twist, because knowing Hyde, he'd just find some way to make it all his fault. Snorting under my breath and rolling my eyes, I got up and dumped the remaining milk into the drain, rinsed the cup, and returned the cookies to the cupboard where I'd found them. I crept quietly back to the room, wincing at every little noise, but gratefully managed to slip back into the guest bedroom without waking anyone - specifically Edward.

He had tossed and turned frequently from what I could tell, the blankets twisted around him and his brow creased slightly. I crawled back up next to him, grabbing his arms and pulling them around me, feeling oddly anxious for the comfort of him. Pressing a soft kiss to his chest, I wrapped my arms back around him and rested my head against his chest, closing my eyes and willing sleep to come. I'd need to be highly coherent and able to think logically if I were to be of any help to Edward in the coming weeks.

Slowly, sleep gave way to awareness. The repetitive gesture of smoothing my hair from my face made me smile slightly; "Morning," I mumbled, turning onto my back and opening my eyes.

Edward smiled half-heartedly at me before leaning down to press a soft kiss into my forehead. "That it is."

I rolled my eyes, then glanced around until I caught sight of the time on the clock, which read 10:36. Yawning, I stretched my arms above my head, quickly bringing one down when I realized Edward was close enough to smell my probably horrid morning breath. He chuckled, leaning over me and removing my hand as my yawn faded, and kissed me slowly on the mouth, taking his time to dip his tongue and tangle with mine.

I wrapped my arms around him, sighing happily. Maybe he really would be okay.

"I almost want to scold you for not going to class… except you seem to have gotten out of that all by yourself." he murmured, shaking his head slightly.

I smirked. "Punching Lauren was worth it, trust me." I flexed my hand a little, wincing slightly at the sprain. Edward noticed, of course, and lifted my hand to look at it in concern.

"How's your hand? Do you need any ice for it?"

I almost told him to take a chill pill, but then another thought crossed my mind. What if… what if telling him to lay off it would make him pull away or something? What if fussing over me helped him in some odd way? I could never understand the way Edward's mind worked, I could only guess at it, but I didn't want to chance it. So I simply said softly, "No, no ice. It's fine, really."

He looked dubious, but sighed and placed a gentle kiss over the knuckle. "Okay. Let me know, though, if there's something I could do to help."

I leaned up and pecked his lips. "Of course." Rolling out from under him, I hopped off the bed and walked out the door, reaching behind me for Edward's hand, since I knew he was there. I smiled slightly, not turning around, as I felt his fingers wrap around mine, and led him into the kitchen.

Esme glanced up from the dishes she was washing. "Good morning," she said quietly, her eye still slightly red. I was sure that if anyone was taking this as hard as Edward, it would be Esme. "We didn't want to wake you two up after your late night, so we let you sleep in. But I put two plates of waffles in the oven to keep warm, and the syrup is in the microwave."

"Thanks," I said and led Edward over to the oven to retrieve our plates. I grinned as I noticed they had chocolate chips. Esme smiled back at me, then dried her hands on a towel and left for probably the living room.

Edward grabbed the syrup, then fetched two glasses and filled them with orange juice. When he sat down, I leaned over to kiss his cheek. "Thank you." I wanted to keep the morning light and easy, no mention of the huge pink elephant in the room.

As we ate, I tried to think of what needed to be done today, and what I wanted to do today. Edward would probably have to start making arrangements or something; I wouldn't know, I'd never been to a funeral except when I was really little. All I remembered was crying a lot and wishing it was all a big mean joke. I wondered if Edward wished it was all an elaborate joke.

But I didn't want Edward's whole day to be full of depressing things, things he wasn't ready to face yet. So I had to make sure it ended somehow on something more enjoyable. Or at the very least, something distracting. I was at a loss as to what to do, though.

"What's wrong?" Edward asked quietly.

I looked up, a little startled. "Nothing. I'm fine."

He looked rather dubious, but went back to eating his waffles. When we finished, I washed the dishes, Edward waiting next to me, then followed him out to the living room. Alice met my gaze, then subtly jerked her head towards the stairs. I waited a while before speaking.

"Alice, do you still have the clothes I left over here last time?"

She nodded. "I washed them last week. Come on."

Rising from my seat on the ground next to Edward, I followed her up the stairs to her room. Inside, she turned on her stereo; Paramore began to play, and she turned to me with her hands on her hips.

"How is he?"

I shrugged. "Better than yesterday, I think. But it's not like that's going to last. When he starts taking care of the arrangements…. And I want to find some way to cheer him up, but I don't think I can."

Alice sighed. "Esme and Carlisle are going to talk to him about letting them help, maybe take charge. They don't want him stressing out so much with his finals so close. And they're worried. He's not been focusing in school lately, though his grades wouldn't show it, and he hasn't replied back to any colleges from what they know."

I frowned. "Why not?"

Alice shrugged. "I know I'm waiting to see where Jasper goes. Maybe he's waiting to see where you go."

Huh. I hadn't thought of that. I had told him some of the colleges I had applied to, but how likely was it that he was able to get any registrations in this late or that he applied to the same ones as me? Or he could be waiting to find out if any of mine where close to his. Shaking my head to stop the whirling thoughts, I spoke up. "The clothes?"

Alice walked over to her dresser and opened a drawer. "Right here," she said, handing them over. I began to change out of my clothes from the day before, which were slightly uncomfortable and stiff now. Alice searched through her dresser and closet for clothes to wear as well.

"Did he get into a fight the other night?"

I nodded. "Yep. Apparently this guy had been hitting Tanya and her sisters recently, and Edward felt like being a little reckless. He says it's not too bad."

Alice nodded, looking a little worried. "I really can't wait until he gets out of here. For his safety, I mean," she added quickly. "I don't like all the time he spends with James and the group; they're horrible people."

"Tanya seemed nice," I said in surprise.

Alice shrugged. "I suppose. The rest of them? Not so much."

I thought back to Laurent. "I don't know…."

Alice stared at me in shock. "You've met them?" she sounded slightly hoarse.

I frowned at her as I finished fitting my shirt into place. "Yeah. I saw Laurent at the mall, and then Laurent brought his friends James and Victoria - I think that was their names - into the same café I was in and introduced us. It barely lasted a minute, and Edward warned me they weren't good people, but I didn't think Laurent seemed too bad…."

Alice shook her head vehemently. "Bad, Bella. They're all bad. Avoid them at all costs. They give me chills."

That gave me chills; Alice getting chills was like someone saying the world could end by the end of the week and knowing they might be right. It was worrying, more so than Edward telling me they were of the bad sort.

We went downstairs, and I was slightly surprised to see Emmett down there. He was yelling at some game on the TV; I didn't even stop to see what sport it was. And sitting next to him….

"Mom, Dad." I said in surprise. "How…?"

Renee smiled. "Jasper told us you were here. We wanted to make sure everything was… okay."

Charlie stood up, coming over to wrap me in a hug. I sighed, relaxing into his embrace and hugging him back. "Hey Dad."

When I pulled away, I made quick introductions. "I'm sure you've met Esme and Carlisle; they're Edward's aunt and uncle. This is their daughter, Alice; that over there is Emmett, a friend. And this," I said, reaching over and pulling Edward next to me, "Is Edward. My boyfriend."

Charlie stared at him long and hard. I narrowed my eyes slightly, but thankfully, he smiled after a while and held out his hand. "Nice to meet you. I've heard plenty of great things about you from both my girls."

Renee came over then, hugging Edward, who looked just slightly taken aback. "I'm so sorry, Edward."

He grimaced, gently prying himself away from her and offering a forced smile. "Thank you."

I glared at her from behind his back as he went to sit with Emmett again. She sent a "What?" look right back at me, making me roll my eyes.

Esme spoke up. "Charlie, Renee. Do you have somewhere to stay while here?"

"We were thinking of asking the Hales if they would mind lending us a room."

Esme nodded, and Carlisle wrapped an arm around her. "You two are welcome to stay here if you need to. We have one other spare room, and I'm sure if Edward decides to stay over here, Bella will be too."

Charlie nodded. "Thank you, but we don't want to take up too much room. Seven people in a house seems a little crowded to me."

Esme chuckled. "It really would be, wouldn't it?"

They all drifted into the kitchen to do the talk adults always had, and I moved to sit next to Edward, wrapping my arms around him again and resting my head on his shoulder.

Edward, Carlisle, and Esme left a little after lunch, Alice went to bed to take a nap, and Emmett left so he could get to the community college campus in time for his class. Which left, me, Renee, and Charlie alone together.

"Why don't we go out to lunch?" Renee suggested. I didn't have any better ideas, and Charlie seemed to agree, so we piled into their car and I directed them to Rodnie's. No one I knew well was working there, so it was rather uneventful. Renee updated me on her most recent fad, and Charlie explained about something or another he was trying to get passed or whatever. I brushed over the colleges that had sent me acceptances, and which I were considering the most, and school. Renee scolded me for punching Lauren. Charlie halfheartedly added his comments, but I could see him smirking half the time.

"Oh, and you're no longer suspended."

Renee and I both did a double take there. "Huh?"

Charlie was fighting off a smug smile. "Well, when I explained you were simply defending yourself, they dropped the suspension and were all for you coming back. I however, told them you needed some days off because of a family crisis." At our stares, he held up his hands. "I don't need to offer information unnecessarily. They didn't ask what you were defending yourself against, so I didn't tell them. Their fault; not mine."

I started laughing, while Renee tried to scold him through her own snickers. Finishing up, Charlie paid and we drove to the Hale's house.

Helen and Robert were home, thankfully, and more than willing to let Charlie and Renee stay for a few days. Helen immediately pulled Renee to the side to talk about some party that was tomorrow night, and Robert excused himself for a business meeting. Which left Charlie and I alone together.

He leaned back on the couch, turning on the TV and flipping to a game. I couldn't help but smile; even with his name rather well known, he was still the same Charlie that had been police chief long ago, back when I was very little. I pulled a book off of the shelves and began to read it, while Charlie's game continued. We were both calm and quiet until a commercial came on, and Charlie clicked the mute button.

"I was thinking of inviting Robert and Billy for a fishing trip this weekend; I don't supposed you'd want to accompany your old man, would you?"

I grimaced, making a face, and Charlie laughed. "Didn't think so. Renee and I are leaving on Sunday afternoon, and we want to make sure we spend plenty of time with you. Sometimes, I worry that we ignore you too much." he added sadly.

I hugged him. "It's fine, Dad. I know you both love me."

Charlie nodded, but continued, "I worry about you and your mother. I know that I'm gone so often, and it can't be easy on either of you." He sighed. "Sometimes I wonder if it wouldn't have been better to stay chief of police instead of moving up like this."

I shrugged, unsure what to tell him.

Slowly, he added, "Your mother and I… we all need to sit down and talk, before we leave, okay?"
"Okay," I said quietly, knowing that whatever it was, wasn't good.

Edward called me when he got back to Carlisle's and Esme's, but he told me that he didn't want any company. I called Alice almost immediately, and she told me that her parents said it was really hard on Edward. He'd been given the note, since it was pretty obvious to the cops that it was suicide, but hadn't opened it. I worried endlessly that night, even when Rose and Jasper came over to their house to stay the night and keep me company. Everyone sat down and watched National Treasure together, but I was distracted throughout the whole thing. Finally, it was late enough for me to pass off being tired and go to bed, but I didn't sleep. I simply stared up at the ceiling, out the window, across the room; when I finally dozed off, it was uneasy and I woke up often, restless.

Edward didn't necessarily cut me out of his life over the next few weeks, but he didn't let me in nearly as often as before, either. He kept himself distanced, and I never once saw him grieving like he should; no one else that I asked had either. The only time I'd really seen him express an emotion over the past few weeks was that first weekend, after Charlie and Renee had their talk with me.

I as furious, and Edward had noticed easily. When he asked me what was wrong, I didn't hesitate in telling him.

"My parents are being stupid! They're separating. Renee wants to 'try something new since this isn't working' and Charlie isn't going to make her stay when he thinks he's being so abusive to her needs by being gone all the time. My mom is the one who encouraged him to take the opportunity, to leave his job and further his career, and she makes him feel guilty for it! And he let's her; he just sits back and lets her get away with it." I was furious, and that triggered my tears. How could they both give up on each other so easily?

Edward's expression was soft and sad as he gathered me into his arms, stroking my hair and kissing away the tears that humiliatingly came. He comforted me, and let me express my anger, and was the sweet, loving boy I was falling deeply in love with; already, I feared I loved him more than was probably healthy or expected.

Then, after that small incident, he kept himself distanced. A few times I saw him, he was a little beat up again, obviously having been in more fights, but he never talked about them.

Alice was worried sick, and Esme and Carlisle seemed at a loss as to how to help him. Sometimes, his distancing brought up my anger, but I worked hard to smash it down. He was simply coping the best way he knew how, and he would let us in when he was ready. At least, I hoped he would. I didn't want to lose him to grief.

This was another one of those times. Rose, Jasper, Alice, and Emmett were very tolerant during these times, letting me rant away without judging, and always letting me know that I was immediately forgiven for any insulting things I said about him. Sometimes, I got so angry, I left to play pool with Leah in the lounge, and we'd bash our boyfriends together without any reserves. Of course, we both always laughed about it and forgave them their faults in the end, but it was nice to rant.

But this time, it was because he was supposed to be meeting me for our first date since the death of his mom nearly two weeks ago. The funeral was next week, so that his finals would be over and done with. But here he was, a half hour late, and here I was, dressed up semi-well for our night out. To say I wasn't happy was putting it lightly.

A knock on the door finally sounded, and I marched over with a glare, wrenching it open. Edward stood on the other side, one hand lifted back and rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Don't slam the door in my face like last time you were pissed."

I snorted, and did it anyways.

Hyde POV

So I had probably deserved that. Especially since I knew I was about to make her even more furious by telling her I couldn't do this tonight. And I wouldn't have an adequate reason for her. All I could say was that James needed me on a job, and I wanted the money to help pay for Mom's funeral. That, and I needed to distraction. I needed the outlet for my pent-up anger, pain, and grief.

Sighing, I knocked on the door again, waiting a moment before trying the handle. It didn't budge. Grimacing, I pulled out the key I'd hoped I wouldn't need and unlocked it, stepping inside and softly shutting it behind me again.

Bella was sitting on her bed, glaring straight at me. Some part of me bristled at her resentment, but another knew I deserved it. Just because I was grieving the death of my mother, didn't give me a good enough reason to treat her as I had been. She'd been infinitely patient, more so than anyone could possibly be expected to in this situation.

"Bella, I'm sorry. I-"

"Forget it, Edward. Right now, it would be best for you to leave before you spew any excuses. I don't think it's the best time for us to get into a fight."

I sighed, knowing she was right. "Okay. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Actually," she said nonchalantly. "You won't. Jacob, Leah, and I are going to visit Billy, Jake's dad. I haven't seen him for a while, and promised to come along for the next visit. So you won't see me until Monday. And I am not at all sure you'll hear from me until then either."

I blinked, taken aback.

Bella sighed, her large, expressive doe eyes saddening. "Edward, please. I just can't take anymore of this right now. I still love you, I promise. I just… need some time to calm down. I don't want to bite your head off unnecessarily."

I didn't know what to say to that. So I didn't say anything.

I turned around and left the room.

Dangnamit, Hyde! Why'd you go and do something stupid like that? Huh? Lol

Okay, so, I've now updated both my stories in the same day again, which means I'm rockin all kinds of awesome. For once, our whole family is watching a movie together, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. My little sister is the only one who hasn't read the books, cause she's lazy and boring and uncool like that. By the time I was her age, I had read all three of them three, four, MAYBE five times. Lol. I seriously need to re-read them again though…. Spring break. That's when I'll take care of it. Teeheehee. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Please review, you guys are all kinds of awesome at it. You all have yet to reach 70 reviews for a chapter, so let's try at it!!!