The next few days were a mess. Both Jake and I were both ready to get out of there, but the doctor seemed to make it his mission to keep me in as long as possible. Jake never left the room once, not that I was complaining.

Emmett and Paul took turns bringing him food and extra clothes, and even though I knew he probably needed a break, I was too selfish to make him leave. Just the thought of him leaving me alone made me queasy. Not just because of some crazy kidnapping PTSD that I probably had, but just the fact I was laying in a hospital bed, in the second worst place I had ever been.

Angela's parents had transferred her down to a closer hospital, and I didn't get to see her before she left, but I was able to talk to both her and Ben on the phone.

"Are you ok? I mean, aside from the obvious." I asked her.

"I'm ok…...aside from the obvious. I just want to forget it all."

"Ange, I'm so sorry, you didn't deserve any of this."

"And you did?"

We sat in silence for awhile before she spoke again.

"The doctor wants me to see a therapist. I don't want to though. The last thing I want to do is talk about it. I don't want to relive everything, and that's exactly what I would be doing. I just want to go home and forget about everything."

"I know, me too. They haven't said anything to me about therapy, I don't know if they mentioned it to Jake, Rose, or Emmett though."

"Speaking of which, can I ask you a few things?"

"Of course, anything."

"Ok, so the ones that had us, they were...well, you know. So since Emmett and Rosalie were living with them, are they…..like them?"

"Yes and no. They are...vampires. But they aren't evil. Apparently the other two changed for some reason."

"You mean the other four?"

"What?"

"There were four. Those two guys, and then two other women. They left out the day before you woke up, I really don't know why they didn't come back, but then again they didn't talk to me much."

My mind was spinning with this information. I was thinking we were done, that everyone we had to worry about was dead.

"Do….do you know anything about them?"

"Not really, they didn't interact with me. One of them came in to change my IV bag at one point. The other one sounded…..crazy."

"Weren't they all crazy?"

"Well, yeah, but that other one, she just seemed…...unhinged. I never saw her, just heard her. She showed up shortly after they brought you in. They had to keep her downstairs, she sounded rabid. She kept screaming something about payback, I don't know. It was terrifying."

I heard her whimper through the phone, and immediately felt horrible for making her talk about it.

"Ssh, don't think about it anymore, they're gone." I said, trying to be as comforting as possible. I heard the phone shuffle and Ben came on.

"Sorry Bells, I think she's done talking."

"Oh Ben, I'm so sorry I upset her."

"She'll be fine. I'll talk to you later Bells. Take care of yourself. Love you."

Jake came over and wrapped his arms around me as I cried.

"I hate this!" I screamed into his chest. "I hate this so much! Why? Why did any of this happen? Why her? Why did they have to drag her into this?"

He just rocked me, letting me have my breakdown, knowing I needed it. I continued screaming and ranting until I felt completely drained. He continued holding me and talking softly to me until I fell asleep, the low rumbling from his chest lulling me to sleep, but woke up shortly after, to a roomful of vampires and werewolves. Rosalie and Jake were having some kind of whispered argument it looked like, Emmett was pacing while talking on the phone to someone, also talking too low to understand. Leah was standing closer to the bed, arms crossed with an extremely pissed off expression, and Paul was sitting in a chair behind her, eyes closed like he was trying to stay calm.

"What's going on?" I whispered toward Leah, but everyone's eyes whipped to mine. Rosalie gave me a tight smile.

"Good news Bella, you're going home."

"And everyone's mad because…..?"

"Because we can't catch a damn break." Leah spat out.

"Leah." Jacob growled out, then looked over at me. "I told them what Angela had said, about there being two women in the house, and they have a good guess who the one is, but they don't know who the second woman was. So there's no way to know if she survived or not."

My heart was racing, and I suddenly felt very flushed.

"But that doesn't mean she didn't get killed." Jacob rushed to finish.

"So, what, we'll just never know?"

"We know someone who can see the future, and she's going to work on it." Emmett finished for him. "But, in order for that to happen, she has to come see you."

Growls erupted from Leah, Paul, and Jake when he mentioned this.

"I take it she's one of you?" I said, ignoring the growls coming from either side of me.

"Yeah." Emmett huffed. I just closed my eyes and rubbed my temples. "Bella, you should know by now that we would never put you in any danger, we would never do this if we thought there was going to be any threat to you-"

"You know that's not the problem!" Jake said suddenly. "We can all keep her safe! It's the fact that more leeches makes for more wolves, and that's not really something we want to keep happening to the kids in our tribe!"

"And I hate that for them too, but what do you want to do? Just never know? This is the only way Jake!" Emmett countered.

"There has to be another way!" Leah interjected.

"Ok, everyone just needs to stop. Right now I just want to get out of here, can we just do that please?" I gave everyone a hard look and received a couple nods back.

"We'll go get the car, they should be in soon with the discharge papers." Emmett said as he and Rosalie moved out of the room.

"Yeah, we'll wait down there for you two." Paul mumbled as he pulled Leah out behind him.

"Sorry babe, I really didn't want to stress you out anymore." Jake said as he sat down beside me. I just took his hand and looked up at him with a small smile.

"I'll just be happy to get out of here." But then I thought of something and my heart broke. "I won't be able to go home."

"What?" He looked at me confused. "Of course you will."

"No, I can go to your house. But I can't go…...home."

"Bella, we'll fix it. The guys have been working on the window since they got back, it's probably ready-"

"No, I mean, he was there." I started trembling at the nightmarish memories that started coming back. "He violated it, he took everything, and now my last memories of my bedroom, are the ones of when I was trapped in the one he recreated."

"But Bella," he said softly, turning me to face him, "it's still your home. It's the home where you grew up. Yes, there are some horrible memories there, but the good ones surpass the bad ones with no problem. All the memories you have of your dad are there, memories with your mom, Rachel, Leah, and tons of great memories with me." He said with a smile.

I nodded with a sniff, smiling at the memory of everything that had gone on in that house.

"We can remodel that room, if you want. Make sure it looks nothing like it ever did.

"I just nodded as I hugged him to me. I knew he was right, and I couldn't let that psychopath control me anymore. I was going to move on with my life.

On the way home, I slept on and off, with Jake holding me in the backseat. Emmett and Rosalie stayed quiet the whole way, although it was possible they were talking and I just couldn't hear them. It was going on 2am when I finally felt the car stop. I sat up to find us in front of Jake's house and breathed out a shaky breath of relief at the sight of the little red house. It was overwhelming to feel so safe after something so horrible. My door opened and Jake gently pulled me out, telling Emmett and Rosalie thank you and goodbye. He walked me slowly to the door, and after stepping through the doorway, I shuddered, trying to control my emotions. Just to be back here in our little sanctuary, the place where I felt the most safe, especially now that my house had been tainted, made me feel so much better. Jake wrapped his arms around me, letting me sob quietly into his chest. I heard a door creak open, and turned to see Billy wheel himself out of his bedroom. I ran over and hugged him tightly, as he did the same.

"I'm so glad you're home sweetheart." He said with a shaky voice.

"Me too." I replied with a whisper.

"Come on dad, I'll help you back to bed, I know you're tired." Jake said as he walked over to the wheelchair.

"Billy, have you stayed up this whole time waiting?" I asked with a smile.

"Bella, you have no idea how it felt, not knowing if you were ok. And even once I knew you were at the hospital, and Jake was with you, there's still no relief like that of seeing you standing here in front of me. Now that you're here, I expect I'll sleep through the next 24 hours." He said with a chuckle. I took a shuddering breath as I watched Jake wheel him into his room.

I headed into Jake's room, and rummaged through his drawers, finding one of his tees and a pair of boxers, then headed to the bathroom. It had been weeks since I had properly bathed, so even though I was so tired, I knew I would feel so much better after a nice hot shower.

I got in, turning the water as hot as I could stand it, and just let it run over me. I let myself sink into the fact that I was safe and protected now, and that I would never again be back in that horrible place, and I would never again have to worry about Crazy Cullen coming after me. He was dead, I was with Jake now, and he would never let anything happen to me ever again.

As I pulled the curtain, I jumped at the sight of Jake standing there with a towel.

"Sorry." He said sheepishly. "I just figured you would need a towel. I didn't mean to scare you."

I smiled as he wrapped the towel around me, which felt like he had warmed it in the dryer.

"That's ok, I just didn't hear you come in."

He gently dried me off, and helped me into my - well, his - clothes.

"Not that I mind, because you look cute as hell, but you know you've got clothes here." He said with a smirk.

"I know, I just….." I trailed off, knowing how dumb it was going to sound. He lifted my chin to look into his eyes. "I just felt the need to be surrounded by you, even if it is just your clothes."

He pulled me into his arms and gently kissed me.

"Well I feel the need to surround you completely, so don't feel like you're the only one." He said as he pulled me tighter. "Come on, let's go to bed."

He guided me into his room as he turned off the lights, and gently tucked us both into bed. We both snuggled into each other, holding as tight as we could to each other, until we finally fell asleep.

It was about ten o'clock the next morning when I blinked at the sun coming through the window. I stretched with a smile, feeling Jake's arm tighten around my torso.

"Mmmff.." He grumbled.

I just smiled, and lightly traced his features with my fingers, watching as his face relaxed, and a lazy smile appeared on his face.

"I thought we were sleeping all day." He mumbled.

"I didn't say anything about getting up, I'm just enjoying having you here with me."

He smiled and leaned in to kiss me. He lightly brushed his lips with mine, when he stiffened. I leaned back to look at him, and he looked as if he were listening for something.

"What is it?" I whispered.

"Someone's here." He scowled, throwing the covers off of us. I immediately started panicking.

"What? What do you mean? Who is here? Jake?" I immediately started panicking.

"Ssh, calm down." He said, gently taking me by the shoulders while he listened for other sounds. "It's just the cops, I'm sure they just want to talk to you. Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's ok." I said taking a breath. "I guess I'm just a little on edge." I said softly.

"Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure you have a right to be on edge." He said, and hugged me to him tight as I wrapped my arms around him.

"They want to talk to me?" I asked Jake.

"Yeah," he said, turning his ear back toward the front of the house. "Dad is trying to get rid of them, I'll go out there and help him." He said, pulling away.

"No, I'll go on out. I need to face them sometime."

"They can wait, Bella. You need to rest, and you need to relax. I don't want you getting upset with them."

"I just want to get it over with. Otherwise I'll have them hanging over my head to deal with."

He nodded as I pulled a sweatshirt on overtop of the t-shirt, and made sure the shorts I was wearing covered everything appropriately. Then he walked me out to where Billy was speaking with the officers. Luckily I was greeted with a friendly face.

"Bella!" Sgt Stewart greeted me with a relieved smile.

"Hey Joe." I said with a smile. He pulled me into a big hug, squeezing me tight. When he pulled back, I swear it looked like he had tears in his eyes.

"I'm so glad you're home kiddo, I was so worried. We all were."

I nodded and smiled tightly as he continued.

"Listen, I didn't actually come here for a report, we got everything we needed from the one you gave while you were in the hospital. But if you need to talk, or want to talk, or if you can think of something that you think could help us find the guys who did this to you and Angela, then of course please feel free. But mostly, I just wanted to see you, see with my own eyes that you were home, and that you were ok."

I smiled at him genuinely this time, my own eyes watering at his admission, as well as the guilt that they would never be able to find or convict the ones that took Angela and me.

"How's she doing by the way." I asked, changing the subject slightly.

"Oh Angela? Um, she's ok I guess. She didn't really want to talk to us. Her parents said she hasn't been talking to them much either. I'm sure it's just post-trauma. I think her mom was going to try to get her to see a counselor or therapist as soon as she could." I cringed at the thought of that, knowing exactly how Angela would feel about that.

"You think it would help if I tried talking with her?"

"Couldn't hurt." He said, shrugging. If anything, you could empathize with her. But you won't get her away from Ben, they're clinging to each other like they need the other one to breathe."

"Yeah, I understand." I said, gripping onto Jake's hand just a little tighter.

"Well, I'll let you get some rest, I know you need it. Give us a call if you need us, and don't forget, if you start feeling sick or anything, or have another one of those anxiety attacks, you head to the hospital so they can check you over, make sure you're ok."

I thanked him as he headed out on the porch and I followed him, with Jake behind me. I heard Joe mumble something that made Jake jerk me back against his chest.

"What?" I asked Jake, but Joe thought I was talking to him.

"I said it's a shame Dr Cullen isn't there anymore, he was the best. I definitely would feel better about everything if I knew he was taking care of you." He said with an innocent smile.

My legs went weak at the thought of that demon anywhere near me, and if Jake hadn't had hold of me, I would have hit the ground. He pulled me back in the house as I started to hyperventilate, while his dad watched Joe leave, making sure he didn't see my reaction.

"Bells, you with me?" I heard him ask as he walked us quickly back to the couch. I nodded slowly as he set us down, and turned to face me. He rubbed his thumb over my cheek, wiping the tears I didn't know were there.

"I just want to forget." I whispered to him. "I want to forget it all." He pulled me against his chest.

"I'm so sorry baby, I'm so sorry." He whispered, rocking me back and forth.

At some point I had fallen asleep, because the next thing I remembered was smelling something amazing, and waking up to Jake setting a large bowl on the coffee table.

"What's up?" I asked, eyeing the bowl.

"Lunch! He said, disappearing out the door again, to return a minute later with two large plates of grilled cheese sandwiches. I sat up eagerly as he spread everything out on the coffee table in front of us.

"I would have come into the dining room." I offered.

"Nu-uh, I want you to stay right here. You don't get to leave the couch all day long. Well, except to pee and go to bed if you want." He said smiling.

"Oh good, I was worried you were going to bring me a bedpan next." I said, making him laugh.

We ate the grilled cheese and tomato soup in a comfortable silence, and I enjoyed the cozy atmosphere. The sky had clouded up and there was a light rain, which I loved the sound of it against the tin roof.

After we were done eating, he dug around and found a pack of cards that we decided to play with. There were only a few games that the two of us knew, since card games weren't a regular thing with us.

"So, if you could go anywhere in the world, where would you want to go?" He asked me after a couple hands.

"I don't know, I've always wanted to visit Ireland, or Great Britain, I think Japan would be a cool place to visit, and Australia. But, I don't know. What about you?"

"All those places sound good, along with maybe some beach off the coast of Mexico." He said, smiling.

"Oooh, yeah, that sounds great." I agreed.

"We could get our own little hut, right on the beach." He said smiling, as if in a daydream.

"Wait a minute, we're going together?" I asked, unable to help teasing him. His face dropped a little.

"Well, yeah! Who else would I go with."

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm sure I could find me a cabana boy." I said, looking away thoughtfully. I glanced over at him, and his eyes were narrowed and one side of his mouth was turned up in a mischievous half smile.

"A cabana boy?" He asked.

"Yeah, you know-"

Our banter was cut short by rapid pounding on the front door, that sent my heart rate into overdrive. Jake immediately wrapped his arms around me, I didn't even know I had started shaking.

"Billy? Jake?" The voice outside called.

I looked at Jake in terror, knowing who it was, and not knowing why she would be here.

"It's ok, baby. I'm right here." He said, smoothing my hair back and kissing my forehead before he stood up to answer the door.

"Renee? What are-"

I watched as mom pushed her way roughly past Jake to get through, and ran over to me immediately, wrapping her arms around me. I tried pulling back away from her, but she already had me pushed against the back of the couch. I started crying, trying to tell her to get off me, but I couldn't get anything out, and she just tightened her grip on me.

"Renee!" Jacob nearly yelled, after not being able to get her attention the first few times. Mom looked up at him as he tried to pull her away. "Renee, you're freaking her out, let her breathe."

"No! She needs me, she's my bab-"

"No!" I screamed, finally able to get my arms free and push her away. She looked so hurt, but I didn't care at that point. "Stop, just please don't do that!" I shivered, moving over to the far side of the couch.

She stood up, looking like I had slapped her.

"Bella, baby, it's me!" She said, looking down at me.

"I...I know mom, I'm sorry. I just, it was too much." I said, averting my gaze to the ground. I felt the couch dip as she sat beside me, grabbing my hand in hers. "How...how did you find out?" I whispered.

"Billy, of course!" She said. I looked up at Jake, who looked furious.

I was sure Billy had good reason to tell her, but even I wasn't happy that she had been told. She didn't handle delicate situations well.

"Now, tell me everything." She said, looking at me like I was some girlfriend, about to dish about some horrible break-up, instead of reliving the second most traumatic event of my life. I stood up quickly, pulling my hand away from her.

"What is wrong with you?" I snapped at her. "Why would I want to talk about it?"

"Bella!" She said, looking at me in shock. "I'm your mother! Why wouldn't you tell me, you're supposed to talk to me about everything! Besides, it's healthy to talk about things like this."

"Healthy? What the hell do you know about healthy?" I could feel the heat in my chest, and it was slowly spreading throughout my body. "You have got to be one of the most mentally unstable people I have ever met!"

"Isabella!" She yelled, standing to look at me straight on. "Don't you dare talk-"

"I'M NOT FINISHED" I roared out at her. Jake had made his way beside me, and was trying to calm me down a bit, but I just kept going. "I have learned to accept you the way you are, but you need to understand that right now is not the time to push your 'parental love' onto me. I am still trying to come to grips with what has happened, and when I am ready to talk to you, I will, but for right now, I am going to have to ask you to leave."

"What do you mean, 'The way I am'?" She demanded.

"This! This is exactly what I'm talking about. You wanted me to talk, and here I am, trying to explain to you why I don't want to talk, and all you can focus on is the part about you! You are flighty, absent, detached, and extremely self centered!"

"You are not talking, you are attacking me! I care about you Bella! Do you know what it did to me to find out my baby girl was missing? It killed me! I just need to make sure you're ok!"

"Mom," I said sighing, suddenly exhausted, "I'm fine. I'm home, I'm safe. I just…..I need time to rest, ok?" I realized I had been pretty hard on her, after all, I had to remember I was basically dealing with someone that had the maturity level of a 14 year old. Then she turned her ire toward Jake.

"What happened? What did you do to her? You've turned her against me!"

"Are you insane Renee?" Jacob countered. "She was kidnapped! They had her for weeks! She just got home last night, give her a damn break! Who knows what they put her through, and you come barging in here, bear hugging her, and then get mad when she reacts badly!"

"You were supposed to protect her!" Renee yelled back at him, not knowing how deep it cut him. Even in my fragile state, I could tell she was just lashing out, but I saw the words tear through Jacob. He just stared blankly at Renee, letting all the guilt he had worked to fight, encompass him, and close in on him. It was like I could actually see him shutting down, and the fact that my stupid mother had done that to him, it lit a fire in me that I hadn't felt in awhile.

Smack!

Before it had even registered, I had stood up and slapped my own mother across the face. Renee stood there, cradling her face, staring at me in horror.

"How dare you come here, into his house, and speak to him that way." I spoke with a deadly calm voice as angry tears spilled down my face. "You have no idea what he went through to try to find me. You have no idea what either one of us went through. You don't know what happened, how they got me, the fact that he nearly died trying to keep me safe. Just knowing he would never stop looking for me, that's what kept me going through everything. That gave me the strength to get me through it, and he found me and saved me." I took a breath to calm myself, and say what needed to be said. "You need to leave."

Renee straightened herself up, her own eyes brimming with tears, her left cheek red and slightly swollen.

"Get your bags young lady, you're coming with me." Renee said defiantly. I just looked at her, she had truly lost it.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, get your stuff, you're coming home. I took some time off, so now I'm home and I can take care of you."

"No! You have lost your mind? I'm staying right here!"

"Isabella Marie, I am your mother, and you will do as I say. Now get. Your. Stuff."

"No, you listen to me! I am 18, and have been essentially raising myself for the better part of the last decade. I don't know what kind of pills you've been popping, but you don't get to tell me anything anymore!"

"So that's it, you're going to choose some guy over your own mother? Is that who you are now Bella?" Renee tried to switch tactics, knowing she was losing this battle.

"Really? 'Some guy'? Jacob is the only one who has been there for me through everything. Other than Billy and Rachel, he's been the only constant in my life. IF you are forcing me to choose, then yes, it will always be Jacob. You know I love you mom, but-"

I stumbled backward as the sting from her slap registered, but before I could even comprehend that Renee had just hit me, Jake was wrapped around me protectively, growling at Renee. She looked hatefully at Jacob, then back at me, and then spun on her heels and was gone as quick as she came.

JPOV

As soon as we heard the car spin out of the driveway, Bella broke down. I hadn't been this angry toward Renee in years, if ever. It just blew my mind, regardless of her personality type, that she could be so dense and insensitive to the situation Bella had just been through. I picked her up and carried her to the bedroom, laying her gently on the bed, and laid beside her, holding her, until she fell asleep. Once I heard her breathing even out, I slipped out of bed and quietly made my way to the front porch and slumped into one of the chairs. The rain was still falling steadily, and I just needed to try to clear out my head.

Renee had been right, I was supposed to have protected Bella. It was my job, it was what I lived for, and I had failed. I knew I would never forgive myself for it, but I would live everyday trying to make up for it. There was a little voice in my head that kept telling me that it didn't matter now, she was here, and she was safe, but I couldn't help but to think about all the what ifs, and what could have happened. My chest and head started hurting, thinking about everything that she had been through, and what I could have done to prevent it. I wanted so badly to talk to Bella about it, but at the same time, she was the last one I wanted to bother with it.

"Son."

I jumped at my father's voice. He was wheeling himself toward me, with a concerned look on his face.

"Sorry, I was somewhere else." I mumbled, explaining why I didn't hear him approach me.

"Obviously. Anything you want to share?"

I thought about it, but then, my dad had a lot on him too. He didn't deserve to hear me whine anymore than anyone else.

"Just absorbing everything that's happened. Renee came by earlier." I said, shooting him a glare.

"I thought I heard some yelling. She called me after the authorities had contacted her. You know I wouldn't have said anything otherwise." He explained.

"Yeah." I said, sighing. "I know."

"What did she say?" Dad prodded.

"Geez, what didn't she say?" I said, scrubbing my face. "She came in like a hurricane, upset Bella, got mad when Bella didn't want to tell her anything about it, demanded Bella come home with her, blamed me for her getting taken, and at some point they each slapped each other."

Dad looked at me with wide eyes as I rambled through the whole fiasco.

"And so Bella is sleeping it off?" He assumed.

"Yup." I huffed, looking back out through the rain.

"You know she's crazy, right?" Dad offered.

"That's an understatement." I mumbled.

"Then why are you letting her get to you?"

"Huh?" I looked back up at him.

"I know that's why you're out here and not with Bella. Do you really believe this is your fault?"

Dad looked hurt that I would think that. I felt my chest tighten and I took a deep breath. I didn't want to get into this with him, I knew he would just placate me, but I also desperately needed to talk to somebody, and get it off my chest.

"I left her by herself. I should have stayed here, made sure she didn't leave. If she and Leah hadn't gone to her house that morning, he would have never gotten to her."

"That's a load of crap and you know it." Dad snapped back at me. I just looked at him, surprised at his tone. "You couldn't keep her trapped here forever, it was driving you both insane. Hell, it was driving me insane."

"We had got it all out of our system, we were fine-"

"Yeah, you were fine for the moment, but it was only a matter of time before you guys cracked again. Besides, the leech wasn't making a move otherwise. The two of you couldn't go on like this forever, it was only a matter of time before she was caught out by herself. And from what I've been told by everyone else, you didn't just lie down and let her go." I watched him take a shaky breath before continuing in a strained voice. "When they brought you back that day, I saw how badly you were hurt, I know they nearly killed you."

I dropped my gaze to my lap, shaking my head.

"It doesn't matter," I mumbled. "They still got her, they still took her."

"And you got her back!" He nearly yelled. "Geez Jacob, does that not even matter? She's home, she's safe! And all you can do is sit here wallowing in the past!" He wheeled backwards to leave but stopped, softening his voice. "I know you're hurting son, I know. I understand how hard it is to accept that something terrible has happened to her, but you cannot blame yourself, this will eat at you and consume you if you let it. And if you can't be happy, neither can she. I know for a fact that she would never blame you, and all she wants to do is move on. She has to have you moving on with her in order to do that. You do what you need to do, but if you love her, you are going to have to let this go."

And with that he went back inside, the door closing behind him.

I sat there for another hour, thinking about what he had said, and how the best way to deal with everything. I hated this emotional rollercoaster I felt like I had been on for so long. I just wanted us to be happy again, just like we used to be. There had to be a way to get back to that somehow. I stood up to walk back in as the sky turned dark, with a new resolve to put all this behind us, and move on. We were going to be happy, and this time I swore I was not going to fail her.