I had two scenes in my head when this story came to me. This one and a future one. Somehow, my brain put them together in the same story and here we are. I really hope I haven't put you off.
"Three years ago, I was twenty and living the life I didn't exactly want. I came from a small town, this town, and I wanted to stay here. I was pushed from all directions about my life. People kept nagging and nagging about my future. I ended up choosing to go to college, solely to study business a little. That was it. I met Elizabeth in my second year of college, and she was in a similar position as me. She was one of my best friends. People even joked that we were siblings because we had the same hair color and eye color. Where my parents were supportive of my thoughts and choices, hers weren't. They pushed and pushed, even going to so far that her mother suggested sleeping with some professors - male or female - to get better grades. Anything she did was never good enough for her family. I tried to help her out, but it pushed her away. I wanted to step in and say something, but she didn't want to cause me any problems." Edward had started walking around the room. He hated this story. He hated reliving it even more.
"Cutting a long story short and skirting around some details you really don't want to know, she came to me one-night, months later, pleading for help. She didn't look like my best friend. She was gaunt, ill-looking. Her hair and clothes were a mess and it looked like she'd lost half her body weight. She'd got in with the wrong crowd, did some things she knew were wrong and it had caught up with her. She didn't know where to turn and ended up on my doorstep. I tried to help her. I wanted her to stay with me, but she was so scared. I did everything I could, but her boyfriend at the time lost it one night," Edward cringed and sat down. A moment later, he was back on his feet again.
"He'd beat her black and blue, not giving a shit that she was pregnant with his child. He left her for dead outside her dorm room." Edward took a deep breath, and his eyes settled on Bella. She looked heartbroken.
Edward always found this hard to talk about, even a couple of years later, but it needed to be done. They needed to know why he was doing all of this. He couldn't bare knowing someone from his town, his home, going through the same thing.
"Elizabeth, Lizzy, was in a coma for a week before she woke up. She was suffering from drug withdrawals and some other health complications which had slowed down her progress. She looked like a flesh colored skeleton. I'd never seen the real effects of drugs before. Yes, I'd watched TV shows and films, but nothing can prepare you for the real thing. Lizzy hung on for three days after waking up. On the first day, she pleaded for the doctors to delivery her baby safely as she was around thirty-seven weeks gestation, although she really didn't look like it. She'd been drinking and taking drugs for a little while and was petrified on the damage she'd done to her baby. She'd realized that she couldn't do that anymore, now that she was away from that bastard. She'd tried to get clean before, but she couldn't do it without support. The doctors deemed her too weak to continue the pregnancy and agreed to deliver the baby that night after the baby showed some small signs of distress. On the second day, she held her daughter for a little while and signed paperwork giving me permission to make any and all decisions about the health and welfare of them both. She also granted me guardianship of the baby. I knew none of this, I didn't have a clue. I was so wrapped up in trying to help her. My parents also stepped in to help. I was looking at houses and special therapists, even looking into the best pediatricians who had experience with babies who'd been subjected to drugs and alcohol in-utero. I was doing everything I could for them both. But I wasn't paying attention to Lizzy. On the third day, my best friend took her own life. She had written a small letter explaining that she could never be rid of her nightmares. That the man and his friends would always haunt her, and she despised herself for what she had done to her daughter. Not putting her daughter first, the drink and drugs. All of it. She begged me to keep her daughter safe from it all, to give her my name and make sure that her parents never found a way to get their claws on the baby." Edward's voice broke in the silent hall.
Edward would never rid the memories of Lizzy in that hospital bed. How frail she looked. He would no longer see his friend smile or hear her laugh again. He would never hug her again or suffer the sappy films she loved to watch. Or hold her bags as she showed him more clothing choices.
"Hannah is now nearly three years old, and although she's not mine in blood, I will fight for her. I have fought from day one. She had some problems when she was born with attachments to drugs and she was absolutely tiny. She was nearly full term, but only four pounds at birth. She had to overcome a lot in those first few months. Her grandparents are assholes, the system is a joke, and I fear that one day she'll go off to college and history will repeat itself." The passion and fire were back in Edward's voice.
"I all but pleaded with Doug to let me show your kids what it's like in colleges. Not to scare them but prepare them. How easy would it be for your kids to succumb to peer pressure? How easy would it be for them to fall in with the wrong crowds? How many of your kids can cook for themselves? Do their own laundry? How about the simple things like having a health check every year? So far, you've done it all for them. It all worked out for you lot because it was different, but times have changed. It's changed for the worse. You didn't have the dangers back then. Yes, you had parties with drink and drugs, but not to the scale you have now. I was in college for two years, and I saw my best friend all but beat to death. I've seen another friend jumped and also left for dead over a fucking laptop. Another friend of mine had her accounts drained, her car stolen, her dorm room trashed. All of this happened on college grounds. You don't see what it's like out there. It's fucking scary, and you're sending your kids out there unprepared!" Edward ranted.
"You have bullying, cyberbullying, online fraud, fraud in general, you have high crime figures, too. You have so much out there that will affect what happens to your kids. It's life, they're going to face difficult situations, and they have to be ready to face anything that comes their way. Don't scare them and don't hold them back but get them prepared. You think your kids won't be affected, but you're wrong. Parents in this town have already been wrong and look at how it turned out. You can't wrap them up and protect them from everything in life. That's not fair on them. They have to face the world, so guide them."
Edward finished speaking and the hall was silent. The kids were struck dumb and the parents looked shell-shocked.
But one face stood out to Edward.
The person stood up, walked over to him and hugged his body tightly.
Edward would never forget the smell of her shampoo as his kissed the top of Bella's head.
I'm just going to hide in the corner, okay?