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Big thanks to MeteorOnAMoonlessNight for the beta work :)

Chapter 22

It had been two weeks. Two weeks since he last saw her, heard her, talked to anyone besides his staff at work.

Edward's phone was still almost fully charged by the time he got home from the office, the contents of his fridge untouched, except for the few bottles of Scotch he had Katherine stock up on again. He felt like an utter failure with each and every sip, but he couldn't stop himself. The liquor was the only thing that dulled the ache a little.

He stayed up too late, woke up inhumanly early, feeling restless and exhausted, feeling like a complete ass when he continued blowing up Bella's phone. Even though he knew how Bella felt about stalkers, he could not stay away from his phone. It was getting out of hand.

It pained Bella every time she noticed her phone screen light up, the letters of his name driving a stake through her heart again and again. Bella knew she could just block his number; be done with it and him. But somehow, the pain was a reminder that Edward Cullen was real. That she had hurt him, and she would never forgive herself for that. Isabella Swan had hurt the most perfect man on the planet, and it shattered her.

"No, I'm sure. You guys need to leave, I'll be fine." Bella crossed her arms in front of her chest. Alice looked at her, inspecting her. She felt like she was a subject, each of her movements and moods heavily watched by the vivacious Alice Brandon-Whitlock.

"Fine," Alice huffed. "But you promise to fucking call me, right? Whenever. I don't care if it's in the middle of the night."

"Alice, it was just a breakup. Don't worry about it."

"Don't lie to me, Bell." Alice shook her head, her feelings hurt. "I know you screen his calls, and I know you keep that painting in your room. You still love him, and you're being ridiculous!" Alice couldn't keep her thoughts to herself any longer. It'd been two weeks full of Bella's nonsense, the so-called 'it's better for him this way' speeches, and longing glances to inanimate objects. Alice's beautiful best friend was driving her insane. She was driving everyone insane, even ever-calm Rosalie Hale.

"Just go, Alice. I have work to do, taxes to file, sketches to prepare," Bella mumbled. Brown eyes stared deep into the screen of her iPad, her drawing app open, canvas blank. "Besides, you're here every day. So it's not like you're gone." Alice smiled a little at Bella's statement. Bella knew she was being harsh on Alice, and she threw her raven-haired friend a smile.

"Fine," Alice sighed. "See you tomorrow, then?" She rolled a suitcase behind her, waiting for Jasper to pick her up downstairs.

"Yeah, sure. Don't be late." Bella winked. Her smile faded as soon as Alice closed the door behind her. She was alone yet again. It didn't even hurt her, because she thought she deserved it. Bella had corrupted a perfect man; she'd helped him heal, and then broken him apart even further by crashing his heart to the ground, letting it crumble. Yes, she felt so guilty her art wasn't even genuine. She drew whatever her customers asked, and abandoned the ideas soon after they were done. Even though her technique was there, the work lacked soul, heart.

It was Sunday, the sun beating down upon Edward's bedroom window. He flinched, eyes narrowed and one hand on his head—trying to make his throbbing hangover disappear.

A low groan reverberated through his body. Turning on his Egyptian cotton sheets, facing away from the painting that now haunted his dreams. Her painting. Sure, he'd tried removing it, taking it down, but he always ended up putting it right back. It's like she cast a spell on his bedroom; even when she wasn't in it, her presence lingered. She never left. Isabella Swan was hidden in the one-too-many pillows, the artistic view of his new wallpaper, and her opinion of the plush rugs by the sides of the bed.

A little after eleven, he finally rolled out of bed and pulled the shirt he fell asleep in over his head. He was sweaty and gross, aching for a shower as he walked into the ensuite bathroom.

His post-shower bliss was interrupted by the doorbell ringing. Edward almost wanted to yell for Katherine, but remembered it was her day off. He was on his own, forced to face the outside world. After he quickly threw a hoodie and some jeans on, Edward rushed downstairs, his eyes widening when he took in the giant man on his porch. Several strands of dirty blond, sun-bleached hair blew in the wind, the rest of the waves crunched up at the back of his head. Edward couldn't believe his eyes.

"H-hi," he croaked.

"Ed, buddy. Get over here." Emmett opened his arms, black cotton stretching over pure muscle. Edward stared at him, a little unsure. "It's called a fucking hug, bro. It's what family does."

Edward felt the warmth and the soothing nature of Emmett surrounding him as he leaned in. Emmett slapped his back twice before he pulled away, his blue eyes stormy yet calm. "I'm really sorry to turn up uninvited, Edward, but I just had to see you."

"What are you doing here?" Edward asked, inviting the man inside his house. Emmett wiped his boots on the doormat, heavy soles tapping on the hardwood floors.

"Dude, I didn't have your number… And Bella stashed away her client information in a password-protected folder on her computer. Plus, I didn't want to bother Jasper or Alice… They've just learned to let go a little." Emmett shrugged, looked around the house with curious eyes.

"Did they move out?" Edward asked.

"Yeah, they did. Mostly because of Bella, because she wanted to be alone. Alice's little heart broke when Bella basically told her to leave her the fuck alone… But now she gets it. They see each other every day anyway, so it's not like she's gone forever."

"You want something to drink?" Edward's stomach churned at the thought of anything but coffee, and as he saw Emmett eyeing the empty bottles in the kitchen, he cleared his throat. Before he could even spill another lie, Emmett put a reassuring hand on Edward's shoulder.

"You okay, bud? Don't resort to drinking, please… That shit never ends well," he huffed.

Edward knew he was right and nodded. "Yeah… I let myself go a little. But I'm going back to the gym tomorrow, and I threw the rest of the bottles out." He felt a little dumb at his admission. Edward turned around, firing up the espresso machine in the corner of the counter.

"Could you spare some coffee? I haven't had breakfast yet," Emmett said. "Rose kept distracting me all morning." Edward felt a pang of jealousy when he assumed Emmett was talking about sex. "Look, Ed, you know why I'm here, right?"

Edward nodded. "To talk about Bella, I think?"

"To talk about the both of you. You're both being stubborn, but I recognize her behavior. She's blaming herself for something that's completely out of her hands." Emmett shook his head. It was clear he had experience with what he was talking about.

Edward handed his friend a steaming mug of strong black coffee. Emmett sniffed the contents appreciatively before sipping it cautiously. Damn, that was the best coffee he'd ever had.

"What are you talking about? Has she done this before?" Edward wondered. He ran a hand through his damp hair, wishing he'd brushed it before answering the door. It was gonna be unmanageable when it dried fully.

"Bella?" Emmett looked up, big hands cradling delicate china. "No, I meant Rose. She's the one who's done this before, back when we first started dating."

Edward listened intently.

"I didn't even think we'd end up in a serious relationship, to be fair. Rose and I started out as a one-night-stand… And the second we realized it was something more, she got scared." Emmett took a deep breath before he continued. "Rose can't have kids, and since she thought that was something I wanted, she pulled away from me, broke up with me… She told me I was bad for her, that she couldn't give me what I wanted. Rose basically told me I was wasting my time with her, and she left."

Edward tried to piece everything together, tried to look for the things that would make this breakup make sense. There had been no talk about kids, about anything, really. So, he couldn't understand why Bella thought she was bad for Edward. That she was bad news.

"Look," Emmett started. "It's not my place to tell you, but Alice has been nagging my girl's ears off ever since this all went down. And I just want to help out, you know? I want to give you a reason to go see her, find her, and tell her it's all just a big misunderstanding." Edward nodded, grateful to have Emmett in his life, someone who went to great lengths to grant one of his best friends in the world her happiness. "Rose told me this was all about James."

Edward's head snapped up at the mention of that cockroach's name. "What do you know about that?"

"Bella had some policeman over at the shop, telling her they wanted to arrest James… She figured out the rest herself when the cop told her about the accidents he'd caused last Christmas." Emmett paused to size up Edward's reaction.

This was about James?

"I had a call from the police myself, asking me to come to the station… I did, and I listened to them. They were indeed looking for James, but I—" Edward stumbled over his words. "I don't see why Bella would leave me because of that."

"Kid keeps blaming herself for the accident. That it wouldn't have happened if she hadn't broken up with him."

"So, she breaks up with me instead?"

"I know, man… It's fucked up. But she thinks you'll blame her for what went down, for losing your folks."

"I could never associate Bella with anything bad… I fucking love her, Emmett." Edward shook his head. He felt so defeated he could barely breathe. His heart was beating so fast, his hangover turning into the worst headache he'd ever experienced.

"I know you do, Ed. That's why I'm here. It took me a while to convince Rose I wanted her, that I was in love with her… But we're happily married now, and she's all I'll ever need."

"How is she?" Edward wondered.

"Rose says she's working hard, but that her heart isn't in it. She throws fits over nothing, taking up all the piercing jobs instead of actually designing, and she also snatched the paperwork away from Alice and Rose."

Edward's brows shot up. It sounded like Bella was just as miserable as he was. Maybe that was a sign. Couldn't Bella see they needed each other?

"Bell's at Jake and Riley's a lot, lately. Jake tells me she cries a lot and that she misses you, dude." Emmett shrugs.

Then what was the fucking problem?

"But she also tells them she won't let herself ruin your life."

"The only way she's ruining my life is by not being in it," Edward said bitterly.

"I know, buddy. I know…"

Edward's ringtone interrupted their conversation. The phone vibrated loudly against the kitchen worktop before he stared at the screen. Unknown number.

"I'm sorry, I've got to take this," he said. "Edward Cullen," he barked into the phone.

"Mr. Cullen, this is Detective Spills again. We've found him."