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

BPOV

Over the few weeks after his initial session with Derek, Edward began to steadily improve. He was slowly gaining weight and even though he was still on the tube it was a good sign. He was opening up little by little to Derek, but unfortunately he had yet to divulge any real information about his past and the reasons behind his destructive behaviour. It didn't worry me too much though, because after all, Edward had spent years concealing everything from everybody, so him talking about anything was progress, even if it was slow. I was hopeful that he would be able to open up about something important soon. All we could do was wait, and hope that Derek could gain his trust enough to do so.

Dr. Martin had told me that I would be able to stay at the clinic until Edward had made sufficient enough progress to be able to handle recovery without me there. She was insistent on this because she felt that he needed to become independent. Even though, the prospect of being seperated from Edward hurt me, I knew that she was right, and when the time came I would leave the clinic and give Edward the chance to recover on his own. This was something that Edward needed, even though I knew that he would hate the idea to begin with. We hadn't told him of this development yet, because he was still in quite a fragile state and we didn't know how he would receive the news.

After three weeks on the tube, Edward had gained enough weight and regained enough strength to be taken off it. I was optimistic about this as it meant that Edward could start rebuilding his relationship with food. It meant that he could start to look at the physical side to his problems.

Unfortunately, this hope was shortlived. Edward still refused to eat anything, as he still held a deep rooted fear of food. He refused to have anything to do with anything when it came to food. Much to my dismay he was put back on the tube. It hurt for me to see him make this kind of progress and then to, as it seemed, take several steps backwards. The tube was different this time. Instead of constantly being hooked up to a machine, and being confined to his room, the doctors or nurses were able to connect and disconnect the tube when he needed it. This meant that he was able to move around and regain some semblance of independence. Something that I could see he was happy about as he hated being confined to his bed. I couldn't help but wonder how long he was going to be on it this time. Sometimes, Edward was too stubborn for his own good.

We both continued our studies. Because I was staying there with Edward, I was allowed to join him in the classes that the clinic provided. It was sort of like how I guessed a boarding school would be. I was glad of this because if this weren't here then I would have no choice but to go back to Forks to finish high school, but then again with so many teenagers coming and going all the time, it was to be expected.

I spent pretty much all my time with Edward, apart from when he spent that hour or two in therapy with Derek, depending on how he felt. Derek had been eager to get Edward's recovery process underway so he felt that a daily session was necessary for the first week or so, just so that Edward would get used to talking to him. From where I was standing, it seemed to help.

His family came to visit him as often as possible. Alice, Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie were only able to come up on the weekends due to school, and Carlisle and Esme were only able to visit as long as their work permitted it. Esme had had a downpour of clients that wanted her to redo their homes and that left her with very little time left over. Carlisle found it even harder to get time off of work. There had been an increase in road accidents lately, which meant that he was constantly being called into work. Something that was frustrating him. Even though he loved his work, he wanted to be able to get away to see Edward more often than he could.

We all held onto the hope that Edward would respond well to the treatment and be out soon. For a short while I thought that that might actually be possible, but unfortunately, Edward's reluctance to trust food again thwarted that hope. I kept telling myself that he was going to be okay. He needed to take baby steps thats all. I could wait for him to make the progress on his own. When it came to Edward I would do anything asked of me.

I got to know a couple of the patients in there really well. I quickly became friends with Michael. He was a sweet guy who was clearly energetic and fun-loving, but his eyes always seemed to hold a certain sadness which conveyed more than he was letting on. He told me why he was in there and about his past and he thought that it was great that I was allowed to stay. He also told me that I was the first relative or friend who had been able to stay overnight. He was glad of that because he realised that Edward needed me. He soon realised that I needed Edward too. He was incredibly perceptive.

I also met a girl called Claire in there as well. She told me that she had only met Edward once, but she immediately took a shine to him. I was wary of her initially, wondering if I should keep an eye on her, but she soon began talking about her boyfriend, Quil. I could immediately tell that she was in love with him, and that she saw Edward as a friend so the initial hostility that I felt to her melted away pretty quickly. She thought that what I was doing for Edward was amazing, putting my life on hold so that I was able to see him through. She asked me how I was able to do it. And I told her the truth.

"Edward is my life now." I told her truthfully. He was and nothing was going to change that or take that away from me. Her face broke out into a huge smile that reminded me of Alice when someone mentioned shopping. Thankfully, she was not as hyper as Alice was. Even though she seemed happy enough I could tell that, as with Michael, there was a lot of stuff that she needed to work through. Her boyfriend came to see her as often as he could. He lived in Seattle, so it wasn't hard for him to get to the clinic and I could see the devotion that he had for her when he was with her.

He was here now. They were sat in a corner of the recreation room, talking and occassionally exchanging chaste kisses. Edward was in session with Derek so I had accompanied Michael down to the largest of the recreation rooms.

"That's what you and Edward are like, you know?" Michael said, a cheeky grin spreading across his face, nodding to Claire and Quil, who were now talking, their foreheads touching. It was a sweet thing to see. Young love, as many grown-ups called it. Those two would be together forever, you could see it. I turned back to Michael to see that he had a slightly sad look on his face.

"What's wrong?" I asked him, placing a hand on his.

"It's just that, I see you and Edward together, and Claire and Quil, and I just wonder whether or not I'll ever have anything like that." He sounded so sad and lost.

"Of course you will, Michael." I lifted his chin up. "The one for you is out there somewhere, and you will find her. You will find her, Michael. Don't ever doubt that." He smiled at me, seeming to take comfort in my words.

"Thanks Bells." He whispered. I leant over and gave him a hug, rubbing his back in a friendly gesture.

Breaking away from him, I saw Edward walking through the door and I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face. Michael turned to look at him and rolled his eyes as he turned back to me. I gave him a friendly punch on the arm as I got up and embraced Edward.

"How was your session?" I asked him, gazing into those beautiful green orbs that always made my breath hitch and my heart speed up.

"It was good." He said, sitting down on the same sofa as I had been on a moment ago, pulling me into his lap in the process. I sat on the cushion that was wedged between his leg and the arm of the sofa, not wanting to hurt him. He was still too thin, so too much pressure or weight on him could hurt him and do a lot of unwanted damage. "Derek is scheduling a family session." He breathed, looking at my hand, on which he was rubbing small circles with his thumb.

"Are you okay with that?" I asked, pushing his hair out of his eyes and leaving my hand resting on the back of his head, gently.

"I think so." He whispered, unsure. "I think it could be good. Maybe."

"Derek wouldn't have suggested it, if he didn't think you were ready." I told him and he nodded in agreement. At that moment, his eyes glazed over slightly and I knew that he has zoned out. I quickly brought him out of it by placing a kiss on his lips. He snapped back to attention and smiled at me. "Don't worry about it love. When is he thinking of doing it?"

"Tomorrow." He sighed. "Apparently he already called my parents and they agreed. They think that it's best to get it over and done with. They say the first one is always the most important." We looked at Michael who nodded silently.

We made our way back to Edward's room and just lay there on Edward's bed, enjoying each other's company.

I don't know how long we stayed there like that, but after a while there was a knock on the door. Looking at the time we knew that it was the nurse bringing a tray of food for me, and a bag of liquidised food for Edward. I knew that he hated it, but there wasn't really anything he could do about it, unless he went on to eat solid food. I began to eat my lunch as the nurse hooked Edward up to the machine that pumped the liquid into his system. I know he hated it, but it was necessary until he rebuilt his trust in food.

We stayed in Edward's room for the rest of the day, just talking about nothing in particular. It was one of those meaningless conversations that stays in your memory forever. I didn't want to forget a single moment with Edward. We were only interrupted by the nurse who brought me some food and changed the bag on the machine and hooked Edward up to it again, returning about half an hour later to disconnect him again. We must have fallen asleep soon after that because I don't really remember talking to him when I'd finished my food.

The next morning I woke up to find Edward gone. This was normal now, because since he had been disconnected from the pump he would have to get up every morning for weigh-in. I knew this was necessary but every morning I woke up aggravated that Edward wasn't there. I missed waking up to his warmth and beautiful scent. It was just something else that I was going to have to put up with if it meant that Edward was going to get better.

Knowing that there was no way I was going to get back to sleep I rolled out of bed and climbed into the shower. Having the hot water pelting down on my skin felt good. I couldn't help wondering how today was going to go. Edward had told me that Derek had organised a family session, and seeing as I was such a large part of Edward's life, I would be there too. Trying not to dwell on it too much, I stepped out of the shower, dried myself off and got dressed. I walked out of the bathroom to find Edward lying on his bed with his eyes closed. I sat on the bed and his eyes shot open, glinting at me in the morning light.

"Well?" I asked him as he sat up.

"Up .7lbs." He said looking at me apprehensively. I smiled slightly.

"That's good, love." I put my arms around him. "Every day you gain a little bit more, the closer you are to leaving here."

"Yeah, I know. It's just....." He trailed off and ran a hand through his hair a worried expression on his face.

"What?" I asked, turning his head to face me.

"I don't know." He dropped his hand back into his lap and stared at his hands. "I don't know."

I turned his head back to look at me. I gave him a quick kiss on the lips and stared at him again. "It's a good thing." I told him sternly and he smiled slightly. "Say it."

"It's a good thing." He whispered. I kissed him on the cheek.

"Now, go on. Get in the shower." He chuckled and made his way into the bathroom. He had been doubting himself a lot over the last few days, and it made me uneasy. I wanted him to see how strong he really could be. I just had to find a way to get him to see it. I would have to talk to Derek about it later on.

By the time Edward got out of the shower the nurse had brought up my tray of food and was waiting for Edward, so that she could hook him up to the machine. He grumbled a bit at this but sat on the bed nevertheless. He really did hate that machine. I was surprised that it was still in one piece to be honest. I was sure that if he broke it, Edward would be able to make it look like an accident. I smiled at that thought.

Before we knew it, Jude came up telling us that Derek was ready for us to go to his office. I had never been in his office before. Ever since I had been here, Derek had taken to conducting Edward's sessions in his room, to give him a sense of security, he told me. But seeing as it was a family session, apparently the space in Derek's office was larger than the space in Edward's room.

We followed Jude down the hallway and she left us outside Derek's office. She smiled at the both of us in encouragement as she walked away. Edward paused before going in, a look of worry on his face. He was doubting himself again. I could see it in his eyes. This one probably going to be one of the only times he was able to tell his family how he really felt and there was no way I was letting him back out now.

"Edward." I took his face in my hands and forced him to look at me. "You can do this." I told him, but I could see that from the look in his eyes, he didn't believe me. "You can do this, okay? You have nothing to be afraid of. They will still love you no matter what. Alright?" He tried to nod but my hands had his face so securely that he couldn't. I stood on my tip toes and gave him a kiss.

I looked up at him, smiled and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. He smiled back at me and we walked through the door.

His family was already in there waiting for us and they all turned around as we walked through the door. I let go of Edward's hand as they all moved to embrace him, including Emmett. After they embraced Edward, Esme and Carlisle came over to me and each gave me a hug, whispering thanks and gratitude in my ear. I smiled at them.

"Okay then," Derek stood up from where he had been sitting on his desk. "If you could all take a seat." I looked around and saw that there were eight armchairs in the room, arranged in a semi-circle.

"Does it matter where we sit?" Emmett asked looking at Derek.

Derek looked straight back at him. "Probably." He said, unsmiling.

We all moved to sit down. Edward sat down in an armchair on the end of the semi-circle closest to the window. I sat down next to him and watched the others take a seat. Derek was watching us all, trying to gain answers from our body language.

"Who starts?" Emmett asked when we were all sat down, looking around at us all.

"Why don't you start, Emmett?" Derek asked him, sitting back down on the edge of his desk, where he had been a moment ago, looking intently at Emmett.

"Um, okay." Emmett seemed slightly flustered. "I don't know what you want me to say."

"How about the first thing that comes to mind." Derek looked over at Edward. "How do you think Edward seems from the last time you saw him?"

"Well, um, he seems better." Emmett said, unsure of Derek's meaning. "I mean, he looks better than he did." He looked Edward up and down. "But that's probably because he has to eat now. He doesn't have a choice now."

This comment seemed to pique Derek's interest. "Now what makes you say that?"

"Well, here he doesn't have a choice whether or not he eats. He has to. But at home.....at home he doesn't. It just makes me think, what's he going to be like when he leaves here?" Emmett's voice seemed to drop when he said the last part. I saw Edward roll his eyes at his brother.

"Do you think that when Edward leaves he'll revert back to his old ways?" Derek asked him.

"Well, there's a possibility he could." Emmett glanced at Edward again. "I mean, with nobody watching him all the time, there's no telling what he'll do. Who knows what he's going to be like when he leaves here."

"Emmett!" Rosalie hissed at her brother.

"No, Rose!" Emmett shot back. "He told us to be honest, and I am. We don't know what's going to happen when Edward gets out of here. So let's stop pretending that we do."

"Emmett, calm down!" Carlisle warned him. "This is no time to let your anger get the better of you."

"Emmett's got a point, Dad." It was Jasper who spoke up this time. "We don't know what's going to happen when Edward gets out of here. It's not like we can prepare. I mean he managed to fool us for God knows how long before we discovered what was going on. Who's to say he won't try it again?"

"Thank you!" Emmett said slouching back in his chair.

"You two need to have a little faith in Edward!" Alice spoke up now. "I mean, you've heard how well he's doing. How do you know what he's going to be like-"

"Exactly Alice!" Emmett snapped, leaning forward in his chair again. "We don't know what's going to happen." He looked at Edward again, who was now staring at the floor his jaw clenched. "I mean, it's not like he's embracing the treatment with open arms is it? I mean, look, he's still got that fucking tube stuck to his face!"

"Emmett," Carlisle warned, obviously reprimanding him for his language.

"No Dad!" Emmett was getting angry now. "He's still having to be force-fed! It's not like he's getting on well with the treatment is it?!"

"Emmett, calm down!" Rosalie hissed. "You getting pissy is not going to help things."

"It seems that nothing's helping though is it?" Emmett glared at Rosalie. "You wanna know what I honestly think? I think that Edward's going to be here for a long long time. Who knows when he'll get out. Maybe he won't!"

"Emmett!" Alice screeched. "How can you say such a thing?!"

"How can I not?" Emmett almost yelled back.

I didn't really pay any attention to what else was being said. All I noticed was Edward turning his chair around and going to stand by the window. He stood there, his jaw clenched and his hands clenched into fists. He hated seeing his family fight and I could tell that he was trying to hold back tears.

"Hang on, hang on." Derek called to the family. "While you're all fighting here, take a look at where Edward is." We all turned to face him as he stared out of the window.

EPOV

"Hang on, hang on." I heard Derek call to my arguing family. I couldn't stand it when they fought. When the arguments usually started I generally got out of there as fast as I could. "While you're all fighting here, take a look at where Edward is." Great! Now they're all going to be looking at me. "You see where he is? Edward?" I turned my head to face him slowly. "Do you often do that? Try to disappear when the fighting starts?" I looked out the window and nodded slowly.

"Course he does!" Emmett piped up. "He's always been the good one."

"What do you mean by that Emmett?" Derek turned back to my hostile brother now.

"What I mean is that, Edward can never do anything wrong." Emmett huffed.

"Well, Emmett, that's not entirely true is it?" Jasper put in and I turned to look at them. "If he never did anything wrong we wouldn't be sat here now would we?" Emmett didn't answer him. "I mean, just because he was always quiet as a kid, that didn't mean that he never did anything wrong."

"Now," Derek said, slowly. "How much time and attention did Edward actually get before you found out about his self-harm and eating disorder?"

"I don't know." Carlisle muttered. "I mean, he was always a quiet child."

"Yeah," Rosalie agreed. "A lot of the time you never really noticed that he was there."

"Ah," Derek said, pointing a finger at Rosalie. "There it is." Rosalie looked confused. "'A lot of the time you never really noticed he was there.' That says it all. But let me guess, after everybody found out, he was watched all the time, right?" Rosalie nodded. "Now, you see, what remains to be seen here is, whether or not Edward would have developed these disorders if he had been noticed more when he was younger. You know, had someone to talk to. It might have helped prevent this."

"Are you saying, we're to blame?" Emmett spoke up again and I rolled my eyes at him. He scoffed and I turned to see him looking at me.

"No, what I'm saying is, maybe we can start to rectify that mistake now." Derek explained. "What I'm trying to do is to attempt to get Edward to try and depend on you emotionally, as a family, or else he is going to remain as helpless and as isolated as he is right now." Derek looked at me and then back at my family. "And then.....in our up and coming sessions I want to help Edward and yourselves to understand the feelings and emotions that he starved behind and hid with nehind with his self-harm."

I turned around to look at them. None of them had any idea of what to do.

Emmett had his head in his hands. It sounded like he was trying to hold back tears as Derek's words sank in. "It's my fault." He moaned quietly, clutching at his hair in what looked like a painful way.

"Emmett," Alice put a hand on his shoulder. "No one's blaming you."

"I can't help it. I'm sorry. He's my baby brother. I can't stand to see him like this." Emmett looked up at me, a look of anguish on his face. "I'm sorry Edward. I love you Eddie, I do."

Derek looked at me now. "How does this make you feel Edward?"

"I don't know." I turned away from my sobbing family. "I'm not sure I really want to know."

"How come?" He asked me.

"Because.....because.....I hate it."

"What do you hate?" He sounded concerned.

"Expecting anything." I felt the tears welling up in my eyes. "I hate expecting something or wanting anything. Because wanting something means that....that....you'll never get it or...or that when you do get it, it's taken away from you. And you're left with nothing." The tears that were threatening to fall spilled down my cheeks now, as I remembered the pain that I felt when my parents were ripped away from me. "So if you don't expect anything, then you can never be disappointed."

"Expecting what?" I shrugged. "Love, perhaps? Comfort? People to rely on and get close to?" I shrugged again, shaking my head slightly. I couldn't handle this anymore. I didn't know what to say. "Maybe this isn't about the Cullens' at all is it?"

"What do you mean?" I asked him quickly. Too quickly.

"I mean, that this could be about something else," he said slowly, as if he were cautiously approaching unchartered territory. "Like your parents' maybe?" I shook my head, fiercely, telling him that I didn't feel up to talking about that at the moment. "Okay, then. It's alright, we don't have to go there today." I looked at him, thanking him silently. He nodded in my direction once.

"Now, we're running out of time in this session, but during these sessions what I'm planning on doing is exploring how you all interact as a family. As a unit." He explained as I resumed watching what was happening outside the window. Not that much was happening outside. There were some birds on the green, but that was it really. "I'll be trying to investigate your relationship, one as a family, and as individuals within the family." He looked at me again. "Okay, I think we'll wrap it up there for this week."

Everyone looked around at each other, not really wanting to get up. Eventually, Carlisle got up and walked over to me. I turned to look at him and he hugged me tightly. I stiffened at the sudden contact, and tried to relax as he held onto me. I put my arms around him and buried my head into his shoulder, feeling my tears spilling over again.

"It's okay. It's okay." I heard him whisper to me as I sobbed into his shoulder. I felt him crying against me but I didn't care. This was the first time Carlisle and I had embraced like this. It must have been a pathetic sight. A man holding onto his teenage son as they both sobbed into each others shoulders.

After a minute or two we'd both calmed down enough to let go, and the others in my family hugged me goodbye.

Bella walked up to me and put her arms around my waist. She leaned up and kissed the bottom of my jaw and I looked at her and she smiled at me sadly.

I watched sadly as my family walked out of the door.

"I'm very proud of you, Edward." Derek said, closing the door behind them, and walking up to me. He put his hands on my shoulders in a fatherly way. "It took a lot of guts to stand up to them today. I'm so proud of you. Now, off you go, get some rest." He squeezed my shoulders and Bella and I walked up towards my room.

If I'd done such a good job, then why didn't I feel do great?

Edward's finally opened up a little to his family.
How do you think this will affect his recovery?
Any of you notice something that happened that was really hard for Edward to do (apart from the whole confrontation thing)?
A sneak peek of the next chapter for anyone who gets it right :D
Ciao!! xx