Bella didn't know how much time had passed since she had been taken, nor how long Edward intended to keep her, only that one day her face stopped appearing on the 5 o'clock evening news.

That fact alone brought both a helpless desperation into the pit of her gut that wouldn't go away, no matter how much she tried to keep hope alive, and with it a detached sort of melancholy.

Life was strange, Bella thought as sat on the couch in the living room. It goes on. Even when you're sitting still. It goes on.

It went on now as she listened to Edward come through the front door, his hands full of brown paper bags that signaled he'd went grocery shopping after work. She watched as he walked into the kitchen and set down the bags down, giving her a smile over his shoulder.

She curled further into the couch at the sight, taking the afghan from behind her, and curling it around her body. She reached for the remote, and changed the channel, switching to a harmless station that only played the classics.

She pretended to be sleepy, her eyes drooping dramatically, when he came around the bend of the hallway, but her jaw was tense, and her hands curled into themselves underneath the blanket.

"Hey, love," he said, before leaning over to plant a kiss on her lips. She sighed against his lips, and schooled her expression when he reached to drape her legs over his lap as he settled in. "How was your day?"

"Fine." The one word response brought a frown to his face, and a crease to his brow, but he persisted nevertheless.

"That's good. I went shopping and brought you some things. I thought I would make your favorite tonight. Mushroom ravoli." He shot her a dazzling smile that would have charmed anyone else but her as he reached for her feet underneath the afghan, his thumbs pressing into the arch of her foot.

"I'm actually not that hungry. I think I might go lay down for a while. I'm not feeling like myself." Bella tried, but failed to get away as she lifted her legs to stand from the sofa, only to be pushed back down.

"Why don't you rest here, love? I'll bring you some warm milk." He stood, finally taking his coat off and resting it on the back of one of the dining room chairs. She watched as he took a jug from the fridge and poured some milk into a small kettle before turning back to her. The expression in his eyes was contemplative, if a bit hesitant. She watched as he opened his mouth as if to say something, only to close it not a moment later.

Bella turned her gaze back to the television screen, watching as Humbert Humbert held Lolita's forearms with a desperation in his eyes, his lips moving frantically, as if begging her to see reason, begging her to stay with him.

"Why do you always watch these movies without the sound?" Edward asked as he reached for the remote, turning the volume up a few dials until the actors voices were a gentle hum in the background.

"Watch the body language. You can always tell so much without ever hearing someone speak."

A moment passed before he spoke again. "He loves her."

"Yes."

"But she doesn't want him." Edward tore his eyes away from the screen before settling them on Bella once again. A thick silence settled over the two of them only to be broken when the kettle hissed. He turned back to the stove, and reached for a glass from the cabinet before handing her the warm liquid.

"Thank you." She felt his gaze on her face, but never lifted her eyes from the steaming milk just below her mouth. Quietly, she sipped until his eyes fell away, and his fingers came to rest on her neck instead. He kneaded her neck, smoothing his thumb over her nape; Bella couldn't stop the shiver that crept up her back, and the inescapable warmth that settled over her being. Images of his face above hers as his fingers stroked between her legs flashed through her mind, his eyes ever insistent, seeking something in hers she wasn't sure about, and she fought hard to dispel them before he could see the blush on her cheeks.

The rest of the afternoon passed in the same thick silence, lingering into the evening. The mushroom ravoli he had slaved over for the better part of an hour sat like lead in her stomach, the nausea creating a lump in her throat that wouldn't go away no matter how many times she swallowed.

The worst part of the night was coming. She could feel the electricity in the air when she reached into her bottom drawer for a set of pajamas. Even though she was confined to this apartment, that hadn't stopped her from dressing as if she was going to work at the publishing company, or out for a casual round of errands. It satiated that part of her that needed something normal in a world that hadn't felt normal in such a long time.

She pulled a small silk chemise over her chest, and reached for the matching pair of boy shorts as there were no other options such as her old ratty tees or shapeless leggings, left behind as he had haphazardly helped her pack her lone suitcase before drugging her and forcing her here. She sighed. She didn't know why she had gotten dressed for bed at all. She knew the moment she was lain across his bed that he would reach for her. He had reached for her every night since she had first been taken.

It had never moved past him stroking her, or him wrapping her soft hand around him, but she was terrified that one day that wouldn't be enough anymore. He was going to take her. Soon. She could feel it now in the way he ground against her hip, breathless and lost in her, his fervent gaze trained on her flushed face, looking for clouded eyes that signaled he had slipped inside her pleasure. She heard it in the way he rasped out her name, the note of desperation in his voice curling deep in her belly, replaying over and over in her head until it was the only sound that existed. She knew it in the way he held her close to him afterward, pressing kisses into her salted skin, murmuring how much she meant to him, how much her loved her, and how he wished he could show her. Truly show her that he was nothing without her.

She didn't know whether to be flattered or horrified by the passion in his voice, only that some part of her believed him. She couldn't deny that he felt those things, not when she knew the lengths he was willing to go to keep her all to himself. Even if he didn't love her, at least not in the way she defined love, he believed he loved her, and that was enough to justify everything he had done since that fateful day in the coffee shop.

Bella often thought of that day, and cursed herself. Had she really needed that iced coffee that badly? Would she have suffered without it? But she knew better than to berate herself now. It wouldn't have mattered. This strange entanglement she had now found herself in felt fated, as if no matter what she had done or where she had went made no difference. Somehow, someway she was meant to be captured. She had lived under his suffocating gaze for so long, it was hard to see her situation any other way. No matter what she did it seemed she was stuck with him, whether she wanted to be or not.

"What has you thinking so hard, love?" Edward asked then, stroking his fingers lazily over her forearm.

"Nothing. Nothing that matters anyway."

He brushed his thumb over the ever growing crease between her brows from where he leaned his weight on his other elbow, looking down at her. "Doesn't look like nothing to me." His eyes were concerned, his lips pressed into a thin line. "You know you can talk to me about anything, Isabella."

Bella looked away from him, struggling to find the words to tell him how she truly felt without angering him. She had to find a way to make him understand, for him to try see things from her side without shutting her out.

She hesitated, licking her lips nervously before she met his gaze once more. "I miss…I miss home."

"This is your home now," his voice was so soft, she was surprised she didn't hear a trace of anger lingering in his tone.

"I miss my father," the tears came before she had realized just why his face had blurred before her, "I miss my friends, and going to work and feeling the sun on my skin…I miss living."

Edward had remained silent while she had tearfully vented to him, reaching with a hand to stroke her face when she had finished. Unconsciously she had leaned into his touch, hiccuping as he brushed his thumb softly over her lips.

She watched as a myriad of emotions swept over his face, before they settled on one she couldn't discern.

"I know things are hard right now, but I promise you, we will get through this. Together. I just ask that you try. Please, Bella, just try for me."

"But what about me? What about what I want?"

"In time, this will be what you want, too."


A/N: Hope guys enjoyed this chapter. I really tried to delve deeper into their dynamic, and just how hard Bella is taking her captivity. Sometimes inner reflection hurts more than challenging your kidnapper.