Okay well this is where the going is going to get tough. The next few chapters could be rough for some. As far as everyone not see how this is going to be a hea it will. It may not be picture perfect, but they will end up together.

Thanks for the all the reviews! We are loving them!

Thanks to Sally and Kasi for all their help.

We own nothing but the plot.

Rocks cut at the soles of my feet and branches ripped across the skin on my face. I ducked as often as I could, but it was no use. As the woods thickened around me, what little light there was began to be shut out until there was nothing but complete blackness surrounding me. I swallowed back my hysteria and willed my body to move forward as quietly as possible.

The sound of twigs snapping beneath my feet would cause me to stop dead in my tracks and hold my breath, listening for any sound of movement behind me. I held my breath until my lungs burned, aching for oxygen. Only when I was sure he wasn't there did I release the air and inhale once more. I could feel the salt of my tears mix in with the blood that stained my cheeks, causing a harsh stinging sensation across my abused face.

"Bellaaaaaa!" His voice came from behind me suddenly.

I let out a startled squeak and immediately began to move once more; never mind the fact that I couldn't see two feet in front of me, or that I had no idea where I was going. None of that mattered. All that mattered was getting away from the mad man who was currently after me.

"Tsk, tsk," he said playfully. "You really think you can escape me? Don't you know that I will always own you? Body, mind, and soul? You. Are. Mine, Isabella!" he bellowed.

"No!" I screamed, my voice echoing off the trees.

Running purely on adrenaline, I hardly noticed the pain in my feet or the sting on face. I didn't notice how my arms burned as branch after branch tore through my skin, or even any of the rocks that lodged themselves into my feet.

I let out a piercing wail as my arm was tugged back roughly, causing my body to fall painfully to the forest floor. I immediately covered my head with my hands, knowing that the raining blows would come soon after.

"Never run from me again!" the mad man screamed, kicking me in my shoulder.

I screamed as tears ran down my face, and desperately tried to roll my body away from his steel-toed boots.

When I looked down, I saw that the white nightgown I had on was now a mixture of red and brown, covered completely in dirt and blood. One of the straps had torn, and my left breast was dangerously close to falling out. I tugged on the piece of material, willing it to stay put to allow me some modesty.

"Always such a slut," the man whispered, bending down so that he was on my level. "I should have just killed you when I had the chance."

I stared in horror as he brought his hand around my neck and began to squeeze. I was suddenly lifted up into the air, my hands clawing frantically at his as I begged him with my eyes to let me go. His dark, evil chuckle was the last thing I heard before a ringing sounded in my ear drums.

I looked behind him into the darkness, and saw what my subconscious knew was there: the one person I knew that would keep me from meeting my maker tonight. His eyes narrowed as he took in the sight before him, and before I could blink he was beside us, grabbing ahold of my waist while jabbing something into Charlie's side. Charlie's eyes went wide with horror as his grip slipped from around my neck and I tumbled into my Savior's arms.

"Edward," I whimpered, clinging to his neck and breathing in his smell of cinnamon and spice as his arms wrapped around me.

"Look at your father, Bella," he demanded gently, pulling my head back and turning me so that we were both facing the body of my father.

"N-no, no, n-nooo," I stammered.

Tears ran down my face as I tried to climb into his arms. I squeezed my eyes shut as his arms came around me protectively, his hands running through my tangled, sweaty hair.

"You're safe with me," he whispered, laying a kiss to the top of my head. "You always have been and you always will be. Say goodbye to your past," he insisted, bringing my face out from the crook of his neck, "and say hello to your future."

At that moment, I looked behind me to see a knife handle sticking out from Charlie's side, blood staining his shirt and pooling around him. Then I began to scream.

"Bella!"

"Bella!"

"Dammit, Isabella!"

I jumped, startled, and gasped for air as my eyes snapped open. My head searched side to side for Charlie's body.

"You killed him," I gasped, finally looking up to Edward.

"What?" he asked as his face paled.

"You-you saved me," I whispered. "He's gone."

"Shhh," Edward cooed, wrapping me in his arms. "You're safe now."

Those were the same words from my dream. I didn't even realize I was shaking until I was in Edward's embrace and he held me still. My teeth were chattering, but I wasn't cold.

"Nightmare," I croaked. "It was just a nightmare."

It took me awhile to finally calm down enough for Edward to remove the cuff from my wrist. On the outside, I seemed calm, but a war was raging inside my head and heart.

Edward was a monster. He didn't save me from anything. He took me from my home- my father.

An abusive father, my inner voice snidely reminded me. He jerked it while you were sleeping! Good ridden.

Edward took away my chance at living a normal life. But then, why was he the one rescuing me in my nightmares? I hated feeling so confused.

As I tried to make sense of my nightmare, I let Edward lead me into the bathroom, already knowing what to expect. It had been the same routine for the past three days. Edward would wake up, take a shower, and then come to get me so that I could do the same.

I stripped out of my clothes absentmindedly as Edward turned on the water and adjusted the temperature. When I looked up, I saw him gazing at me. I felt the blood pool in my cheeks, but I knew better than to try and cover myself up from him. He held out his hand, and I took it within my own and let him guide me into the standup shower. When the door clicked shut behind me, I breathed out a sigh of relief. Even if it was made of glass and he could still see every part of me, I was grateful for the small barrier between us.

I quickly showered and washed my hair, knowing that Edward was going to reach in and shut the water off after fifteen minutes. Once I was finished, I bowed my head and let the warm water hit my back, relaxing my tense muscles. I let my mind wander, but I couldn't shake the feeling that I was missing a vital piece of information from that nightmare. Like there was something more, and I just didn't see it.

I jumped slightly when the water cut off suddenly and looked up to see Edward removing his hand and grabbing a towel. I didn't even hear him open up the door.

Without being told, I stepped into the towel while shivering, and waited patiently while he dried my hair before he moved it lower to dry off the rest of me. I gritted my teeth and stood as still as possible while he dried me, knowing what the end result would be if I didn't. Once he was finished, he smiled at me and gestured for me to move to the sink so I could brush my teeth.

It was just another way that he had control over me. He never left me alone. Not even in the bathroom - the most private place of all. I told him time and time again that I could do it all without an audience, but he just laughed at me. I hated him. I quickly rinsed out my mouth and stood still as he dried it for me, before following him out the door. When we got to the dining room, I threw myself down into my chair with a sigh.

"Is there a problem?" he asked, standing over me.

"Nope, just waiting for you to feed me like a baby," I said, sweet as pie.

He didn't find it funny and pinched my arm to show his displeasure. I glared after him as he made his way to the kitchen, and then leaned a little to the left to see if he could see me. Of course he could; he never took his eyes off of me. He really was creepy. He came back to the table with a bowl of cereal and a cup of coffee in hand, not even acknowledging me like he normally would. I let out a little huff and crossed my arms across my chest. I hated coffee, but I knew that was all I was going to be able to drink.

I leaned forward and placed my elbow on the table, waiting for him to hold the spoon out for me. Instead, I watched as he started to eat while blatantly ignoring me.

"May I have some?" I asked, already bored with this whole thing.

"Nope," he said with a mouth full of food.

"But..."

"You are one ungrateful little girl. If you don't want to accept the food I give you without complaint, then I won't give you any at all," he said as I glared at him.

"So I just don't get to eat?" I asked rather rudely.

"Yup."

"That's freaking rude," I replied.

"Lose your attitude right now," he said as he slammed his fist on the table.

His anger startled me, and I knew that I needed to back off, but a part of me just wasn't going to let this go. I sat back in the chair and watched him eat, silently boiling in anger. Everything he did made me hate him more.

"You're a jerk," I blurted out as he sat his spoon down.

I quickly covered my mouth with my hands, staring at him with fear in my eyes. I knew that I had crossed the line. He gripped my arm and pulled me to him without a word. His silence was even scarier than when he yelled. I was in too much shock at what I said to fight him as he put me over his knee and spanked me fifteen times.

As his palm made contact with my bottom, I suddenly snapped out of my stupefied horror. "Stop!" I yelled.

He never answered and he never stopped his spankings. I cried out every time he hit me, hating that he treated me like a child. Once he finished, I lay over his lap sobbing.

"Are you going to behave?" he asked with me still over his knee.

"Why do you treat me like a baby?" I asked through my tears.

"I guess not," he said giving me five more swats.

I screamed out in pain as his hits became harder, and I knew that I was going to bruise.

You need to give in, my inner voice said. You need to give in and be good.

As my bottom burned and my stomach cramped from his knees digging into me, I knew that I was going to have to give in for at least a bit. I didn't want any more spankings.

"Now?" he asked.

"Yes," I cried.

He helped me off his lap and back to my seat.

"Do the dishes," he demanded as he picked up the newspaper from beside him.

I nodded and picked up the empty bowl to take to the kitchen. I put the bowl into the dishwasher and headed back to the dining room.

"That was quick," Edward noticed.

"It's not hard to put a bowl in the dishwasher," I shrugged.

"Did I say to put it in the dishwasher?"

I blinked in surprise.

"No, but..."

"Fine," he said as he got up and gripped my arm, dragging me back to the kitchen.

"That hurts," I said as I tried to pull away.

He let go of my arm, but sent me a look that clearly said 'stay put'. I watched with wide eyes as he took everything out of the dishwasher and placed it all in the sink. I continued to watch, looking at him like he was crazy.

"Now you can wash them all by hand," he said as he sat on the counter.

I ground my teeth as I glared at him, but didn't say a word in protest. I started the dishes without a word, and alternated my focus between them and him as he would out of the blue touch me. His touches never stayed in one place, either, ranging from my arms, to my face; to my hair...he was driving me crazy. He would even pinch me every once in a while, causing me to jump and splash water all over myself.

I kept my comments to myself, though, and didn't give him the satisfaction of showing any kind of response.

"Wipe down the counters," he said as I finished.

I did as he ordered and looked back to him for further direction.

"Good; now it's time for school."

He took my hand in his and led me to the office. Just like the day before, he made me sit next to him as he handed me worksheets to do. As I did my work, he would reach out to touch me randomly. At first, I would flinch almost every time, and every flinch would earn me a hard pinch to the arm.

"Why do you keep touching me?" I asked, finally finishing the worksheet I was on.

I looked up at him to see him staring at me intently.

"Because I can," he said as I sucked my teeth.

I turned back to my next worksheet as he continued to touch me.

"You need to write neater," he said suddenly.

I sighed and tried to keep calm.

"I said neater!" he barked, making me jump.

I let out a cry of surprise as he took the paper away from me and began to erase all of my work.

"Do it again, but this time take pride in your work," he griped.

I closed my eyes and rolled them so that Edward wouldn't see. My small act of defiance.

"Say it," he whispered, his hot breath right behind my ear.

"You are all I have. You are all I need. You are my life, Edward," I said through clenched teeth.

"Again!" he yelled.

Every time he made me 'say it', my blood boiled and tears stung my eyes. There had to be something wrong with me because I was saying it without thinking now. He said 'say it' and I did, no questions asked. The only control I had was the tone I said it in. I always gave in though, and I hated myself each time.

"We will have to work on your handwriting more," he said as he looked over my work.

I groaned and let my head thump onto my desk heavily. That was the wrong move, though, because he started rubbing my back. I flinched and quickly sat up. Instead of using force to keep me still, he just moved his hand from my back to my leg, so I moved my leg. Moving all around didn't deter him from touching me, and I could feel a freak out coming on that I had no control over.

"Wow, I thought you would have done this work better. You're very behind when it comes to Biology. English, I can't tell because it's so hard to read your handwriting. Math could be better, and Social Studies is okay I guess. We have a lot of work to do," he said, clicking the pen in his hand while he rubbed my leg.

"I'm very smart," I said in disgust. "I never get a grade lower than an A!"

He was making me sound like a dumb ass.

"That may be, but you could still do better," he replied calmly, pinching my arm once more.

"Stop it!" I yelled as I jumped up from my seat.

"Sit down!" he said sternly as I pulled at my hair.

"No; because if I do, you will start touching me or telling me I'm not good enough!" I half yelled.

I was trying to keep myself in check so I didn't swear. The last thing I wanted was for him to put soap in my mouth again.

"I don't even like you, and yet you think it's okay to touch me where ever you want? It's not okay, Edward; I don't want you to touch me!" I yelled.

He got up from the desk, and the look on his face told me to run...so I did. I didn't get very far because he was quick, and before I knew it, he had his arms wrapped around my waist with my arms locked at my sides. I didn't know who I was trying to kid. He was a cop; he knew what he was doing. I flung my head back, but he was quicker, so I wasn't able to head-butt him in the face like I wanted to. I did feel a sense of pride, though, when I was able to make him fall by tangling my legs around his. We both crashed to the floor and I scraped my elbow, but it was worth it.

"Get back here!" he yelled as I scrambled to my feet and headed away from him.

I furiously tried every door that I could reach, praying for some sort of miracle. I didn't understand why he hadn't caught me, but he was probably getting hard from me running. All this stupidness was what he wanted. I ran to the living room and pulled on the sliding glass door. I needed to get out, but it wouldn't budge. I did notice that the lock looked different from anything I had ever seen before.

"Are you done?" he asked in the most sinister voice as he blocked me with his arms. "You know you can't get out."

"I don't want to be here!" I cried as he started to touch me.

He pulled my hair to one side of my shoulder and began laying light kisses on my skin.

"No," I said pulling away.

He locked his arms around me so that I couldn't struggle, and kissed me with even more enthusiasm. "Edward, please don't."

"When are you going to learn?" he asked as I cried. "I think you need another spanking."

"NO!" I sobbed, tears streaming down my face.

"Fine then," he said as he picked me up off the ground.

I was so tired that I couldn't fight anymore. He carried me to the bedroom and I looked up just in time to see him headed for the closet.

"NO!" I yelled again as he opened the closet door.

When he pushed me in, I pulled myself against his body. I didn't want to be locked up.

"I'm sorry," I cried as I gripped his arms as tight as I could.

"No, Bella; you have been awful today. We'll try again later," he said as he shoved me off of him and shut the door. I quickly fell to the floor and brought my knees to my chest as I started to cry harder.

The whole day had sucked, and I was kicking myself for being the cause. I sat in the closet for what felt like hours, and I was beginning to realize that I would never get away from him. I couldn't stand to even look at him, and yet he was always there. I didn't understand why he was doing this. Why me? Who cared if my father abused me? At least he didn't lock me in a closet or the house. At least I was able to go outside on my own free will.

As soon as the doorknob rattled, I stood up. When the door was opened, I ran forward, desperately trying to get out. I didn't like the closet. Of course he stopped me before I could make it through the doorway, though.

"Say it," he demanded, holding onto the tops of my arms.

"You are all I have. You are all I need. You are my life, Edward," I cried, clinging to his shirt.

Ten times he made me repeat it, and every time those words came out of my mouth, they came out more desperate then the last.

"Are you done being bad?" he asked as I nodded.

When he motioned for me to get out, I didn't hesitate. I couldn't take another second of being in there.

"May I have a drink?" I asked, clearing my throat and turning to face him.

I wiped at my eyes, drying the remaining tears that were there. My eyes burned, and I was sure I looked like hell, but that didn't stop Edward from looking at me like I was the most important thing in the room.

"You may," he said, holding out his hand to me.

I hesitated slightly, but then put my hand in his. And when I did, he smiled like he knew that he had won. But I was too tired to fight any more.

We went to the dining room, and I sat and waited for lunch. I was so hungry at that point; I would have sat on his lap if it meant I got to eat. He brought out a bowl of soup and my stomach grumbled loudly. I watched on as he ate a couple spoonfuls and then took a drink. He surprised me by handing me the cup, and I downed all the milk that was in it, no questions asked.

"Please fill up the cup again, Bella," he said, giving me a slight smile.

I stood up and took the cup with me to the fridge to refill it like he said. Once I was seated again, he continued to eat, not looking back at me.

"May I have some?" I asked, nervous that he was going to say no.

"Oh, you want me to feed you?" he asked in mock shock as tears pricked my eyes.

I nodded my head because I didn't trust my voice. I knew he didn't believe me, because he continued to eat without sparing me another glance.

"I'm...I'm sorry about this morning," I said as tears slipped down my face. "I won't do it again."

I really didn't like the feeling of being hungry.

I cried silently, knowing that this would just be another punishment for me.

"Bella," he said gently, causing me to look up. "Eat."

I wanted to cry happy tears when he started to feed me. I took in everything that he gave me with a smile of gratitude plastered to my face.

"Thank you," I said when the soup was gone.

"You are welcome. Go do the dishes," he said as I quickly moved.

I started running the water to wash up what I had to do, but stopped short as Edward called out from behind me.

"Put them in the dishwasher," he said as I started to wash the bowl.

I looked over my shoulder at him in confusion. Last time I did that he freaked. Was it a trick?

"Dishwasher," he said again.

I shut the water off and filled the dishes up in the machine.

"Sweep the floor in here and vacuum the dining room, and then the living room."

I nodded in understanding, and started doing as he said immediately. He watched my every move, stepping out of the way when he needed to. He put me on edge with everything I did, and I was positive I would never do anything good enough for him.

"Again," he said as I went to put the broom back.

I flinched at the tone of his voice and started all over. I made sure to get under everything, and after the third time of sweeping, he said it was good enough. By now, I was hardly getting anything up.

We went into the living room and I saw the vacuum sitting there waiting for me. I plugged it into the wall and started cleaning. I made sure to push the couch back as much as I could in order to get underneath it. When I got to the dining room, I moved all the chairs and made sure there was nothing on the floor. When I thought I was done, I shut off the vacuum and looked to Edward, only to see that he looked pissed and I had no idea why.

"Again!" he yelled. My eyes grew wide and I started to do it all over again.

As I finished with my second run through, I looked to Edward once more to see him staring at me intently.

"Again!"

"There is nothing left to do!" I cried as my nerves went into overdrive.

I watched helplessly as he walked over to the vacuum and took out the dirt holder before dumping it on the floor.

"Why would you do that!" I asked, shocked.

"Clean it," he said glaring at me.

I was truly dumbfounded at the person standing before me. My chest moved up and down quickly as I held back the tears.

"Do it yourself," I said through my teeth as he grabbed my arm.

I didn't even have time to scream as he bent me over the table and spanked me ten times in quick succession, hard.

"Do as you're told, when you are told to do it," he said after he stood me back up on my feet.

I wiped my tears away and started all over with my cleaning. When I was done, he wound up the cord and put the vacuum away. He held out his hand and brought us back to the office. He sat me down on the couch, leaning so far over me that he was practically on top of me. Every time he touched me; I flinched, which would cause him to pinch my thighs or my arms.

"Charlie never loved you," he whispered. "He beat you because he hated you. He couldn't even stand to look at you. Do you know that is what he told his friends? You were just the butt of his jokes. I discipline you because I love you and want what's best for you. I am your family, and no one but me matters to you. I would never beat you. I am the only person in this world that cares about you, and that's why you came here with me. You wouldn't know what to do without me," he said as tears formed in my eyes.

His fingers moved through my hair and I closed my eyes at the feeling of his soft, soothing touch. In my mind, I knew that was what he wanted me to say and believe. My heart was telling me that he made a fair point. Who beats the person they love?

For over an hour, he told me how bad and evil Charlie was, and how good he was. He touched me the whole time, and every time I would start to cry, he would hold me in his arms, soothing me with not only his words, but with his actions as well. I hated that I started to feel comfort from him, yet my mind craved it. As my sobs lessened, I asked for a drink and he left me alone to go get one.

I looked up to the window as a bird flew by and my eyes immediately went to the lock. Only, it didn't look like the locks that were on all the other windows. This one looked...normal. I stood up and looked toward the door to make sure Edward wasn't coming back anytime soon before making my way toward the window. I traced the lock with my fingertips and tried pushing on it to see if it would budge. When that didn't work, I tried to pull on it and twist it every which way, but it still didn't seem to want to move. Becoming more desperate, I began pushing against the window, not hearing Edward come back into the room.

"Just what in the hell do you think you're doing?" his voice hissed out from behind me.

I gasped in terror and spun around. "It's not what it looks like," I cried.

"It's not?" he asked calmly, setting the cup of ice water on his desk.

I stood behind his desk with my back to the window, my legs shaking from the effort of trying to hold me up. I was terrified of the calm Edward before me.

My fight or flight instincts kicked in then as I tried to run past him and back into the main part of the house. I just made it to the other side of the desk when his hands reached out and snagged me.

"NO!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. "Help me!" I tried to run, but he gripped the back of my shirt as he dragged me out of the office.

"That was so stupid of you," he snarled as he brought us to his bedroom.

"I wasn't trying to escape!" I screamed as he opened the closet door.

I knew that I had about two seconds to try and explain myself before I was thrown back into the abyss of the closet.

"I just wanted some fresh air," I screamed.

He stopped for a moment and looked down at me. My body was pressed against his, my hands on either side of the closet doorframe, pushing against him. I took his hesitance and began to spew forth whatever came to my mind.

"A bird flew by and I noticed the locks on your office windows were different," I breathed out heavily. "I just wanted to open it and get some air. I haven't been outside in weeks!"

Edward didn't say anything, but his brows were furrowed as he processed everything that I just told him. I relaxed slightly against his hold, only to stumble forward suddenly into the closet. I turned around just in time to see the door shut behind me, enclosing me in darkness once again.

I didn't get up, knowing that it would be no use. Instead, I brought my knees to my chest and cried.

"If that were the case, then you should have asked me instead of going behind my back," Edward's voice said from behind the door.

I looked underneath and saw his feet walking away. I sobbed harder, knowing that I had brought this on myself. If I had just told him what I wanted, or expressed to him what I wished, he more than likely would have obliged me. Instead I snuck behind his back, and now I was back in here because he felt like he couldn't trust me. I curled up on the floor, not bothering to wipe away the tears, and at some point I finally managed to fall asleep.

The rest of the week was rough. I was so tired that I didn't even know what day it was, and Edward was keeping me in the closet whenever there was down time. He fed me, and we did school, but that was it.

He would always tell me that we were meant for one another, and that Charlie was bad, but his new thing was on how we met. He drilled it into my head that we met while he was at his Convention in Oregon, and we fell in love and couldn't stand to be away from each other. He was right about one thing, though; I did go with him willingly. I never fought him, doing everything I had to, to survive.

Whenever I needed to clean, I would have to do it at least twice. When it came to school, he was the same way; nothing was good enough. And now he was making me write Bella Cullen on all of my papers. He had me write out 'You are all I have. You are all I need. You are my life, Edward,' along with my new name fifty times, and if I wrote it with messy handwriting, he would add five more. I ended up writing it out sixty times the other day. And when we worked on Biology, he would get mad if I didn't get it right away. He explained things over and over, and sometimes I was just too tired to understand it.

I think the worst of everything, though, was when he would touch me every chance he got. If I flinched or moved away, he would get pissed, and would either pinch me or spank me. Bathroom time was becoming worse, also. He would watch me while I undressed, and he moved on to touching me while I was naked. He kept his fingers mostly around my stomach area, occasionally drifting to the sides of my hips. While my mind protested this, my body had a completely different reaction. Goosebumps would break out across my skin and I would tremble beneath his fingers. It was hard to catch my breath at these times, and he always seemed to know the effect he had on me. He would gently place a kiss to my shoulder or at the top of my breast before ushering me to the shower.

While I showered, he would talk about how great our life was going to be, the expectations that he had of me, and how well I was doing in our day-to-day life.

I felt like a zombie. I did what I needed to, just to stay out of the closet. I didn't like the closet any more. I felt like I couldn't breathe when I was in there. I would beg and cling to him, but he always made me get in. I would end up crying so much that my eyes were always burning and my head had a constant pounding to it. He would give me pain reliever if I asked for it, though.

"How'd we meet?" he asked as I undressed for my shower one morning.

"We met while you were out of town, and we couldn't stand to be away from each other," I said, believing it myself.

"We did have a nice drive here, huh?" he asked with a smile.

"We did," I said as I got in under the spray of the shower.

"Do you think I abuse you?" he asked me.

"No; you only want what's best for me," I replied, shocked.

How could I think such a thing?

What was wrong with me? Oh no...I...I...believed it. I was agreeing with him. I started to cry, my tears running with the water from the shower.

"What's wrong?" he asked worriedly.

How could I put this into words?

"I don't know," I said, not understand my feelings.

"Just finish showering and then I'll hold you," he said as I nodded, knowing he could see me.

I wanted him to hold me.

After a few more minutes, he shut the water off telling me it was time to get out. I did, and I was proud that I didn't flinch when he started to dry me off. Edward smiled and I smiled back, happy to see him happy. He hadn't smiled at me in a few days. Once I was ready for bed, he cuffed me and then lay down with me. My body melted into him and I cried. This was the first time in days that I was allowed to finally sleep in the bed and it felt amazing. He played with my hair, rubbed my back and arms, and he kissed my forehead several times. I finally fell asleep to the soft lull of his voice saying I was safe with him. And I knew that I was.

The next morning I woke up alone. I looked to Edward's side of the bed and around the room, but didn't see him anywhere. Then I heard the sound of the shower coming on and knew it must be seven. Every morning at seven, Edward got in the shower before he came to wake me up at seven fifteen. Then he had me shower for fifteen minutes before he brought us downstairs for breakfast. How he got up without an alarm clock was beyond me. It was like his body just knew when it was time for him to get up for the day.

Knowing that I would be on my own for at least the next few minutes, I sat up carefully, maneuvering my arm so that I didn't turn it awkwardly in the cuff, and leaned against the headboard with my arm bent at my side. Last night was a mistake. How could I willingly go in his arms?

Why did it feel so good? My inner voice asked.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I jumped when Edward sat at the end of the bed, looking at me thoughtfully.

"Say it," he said gently, bringing his hands to mine.

"You are all I have," I whispered, letting the words wash over me.

He truly was all that I had right now. If he let me go, where would I go? I wasn't even in Oregon any longer. And I already knew that Charlie wouldn't have reported me missing. If he reported me at all, he would have reported me as a runaway, which just meant that I would be in a heap of trouble with the law if I made it back to him.

I cleared my throat. "You are all I need."

And I guess in retrospect, Edward was kind of all I needed right now. If I had Edward, then I had food. I had clothes. I had a place to live.

"You are my life, Edward." I gasped as the truth of those words washed over me.

Hhmmm…well not much to say! Hope to hear from you in a review!