Oh my goodness! A huge thank you to a kind reader for recommending For Better or Worse to other readers on Facebook! The amount of support this fanfic has gotten within a few hours is crazy!

This chapter is dedicated to you: Fran S. Flower x

Edward gently caressed Bella's cheek as he sat on the floor beside her bed. She'd been fast asleep by the time he got to her bedroom, but he didn't mind it one bit. Bella was always peaceful when she slept—even if she did occasionally sleep talk, saying his name as if he were her most precious possession.

The bruises on her face were barely fading away, being reduced to mere shadows on her cheekbones. He made sure to check on her hand, moving it so that she didn't roll on top of the brace when she did grow restless. Edward knew that no matter how peaceful Bella appeared right now, the nightmares that soon followed in the night were always there to torture her.

Would she be dreaming about Jacob now? He couldn't help but wonder...

Resting his forehead against the covers, holding her hand close to his cheek, Edward knew that if he could cry, he'd be doing so right now.

All this time, living his life completely alone and without a mate, Edward had yearned to love someone as deeply as Carlisle did Esme or felt as passionately as Rosalie did for Emmett. Now that he finally found Bella? Edward didn't realize he could do all of those and never tire of feeling this immense love for a single person. It's true that the love between two people grows in a way that seems unimaginable to someone who had never experienced it. Someone like Edward.

Their happiness becomes the root cause for your own.

Their pain becomes yours just as their losses become yours as well.

Bella isn't simply his girlfriend or mate anymore—she was a part of him.

It only took so many mistakes on his part to realize it...

A warm hand sank into his wild bronze hair, and he looked up, not having realized Bella had woken up. He sighed when her fingers played with his strands, gently caressing his scalp the same way she always had in the past.

"Did I wake you?" He whispered, noticing her eyes were still closed however a small smile graced her plump lips.

"No," she said after a few moments of quiet between them. Bella turned her head in his direction, "I'm glad you're here. Next to me..."

"I'll always be beside you, even when you don't want me," Edward responded wholeheartedly, to which Bella finally opened her eyes and stared at him.

"I'll always want you beside me..." Edward kissed her palm and smiled against her skin when he heard her heart beating a little faster, the same way it always does whenever they kiss. Bella licked her dry lips and admits with lament, her voice quivering, "Edward, I'm sorry for how I treated you," He straightened and rose onto his knees to listen to her sincere apology. The tears that filled her eyes tugged are his heart, "I never want to push you away. I'm just-"

"Hey," he cupped the side of her face gently and ran his thumb under her eye just as a tear slid down her cheek, the warm teardrop landing on the tip of his finger, "you don't ever have to apologize to me about anything, especially this. I just want you to know that I'm not...going anywhere, Bella. I'm going to be beside you every step of the way and hold you close when you need me and if you're angry or frustrated, talk to me. About anything."

"Can you hold me? I need you to hold me." She whispered, covering her face with her hand to stop the tears that had started to slip down her face. There was so much left to say, too much to express between both of them - but right now, Edward knew what Bella needed most, and that was enough. Climbing into the bed, he tucked a spare blanket around Bella to keep her warm before gently tugging her into his embrace. When she tugged the blanket off, however, and slipped her arms around him, her fingers slowly caressing his back, Edward was stunned when he heard her murmur against his chest, "I need to feel you close. To keep the nightmares away...to keep it all away."

Cupping the back of her head, Edward shut his eyes tightly before kissing her forehead, "I can do that, love."

Two days had passed since Bella arrived at the Cullen's home, and she's slept for nearly two days straight as well—thanks to the lack of sleep and her body practically shutting down completely to recover from her injuries.

Thanks to Jasper's gift and Carlisle checking up on her, today, Bella was finally able to get out of bed. With some help from Edward, of course.

Currently, however, she was sitting in Carlisle's study and obliging him in her daily check-up. Maybe she was simply too tired to tell him she was fine like she used to whenever she was injured. Or maybe it didn't matter anymore what he did—because Bella knew it wouldn't make much of a difference. But either way, she knew it was important to Carlisle to check on her, and Bella didn't want to take that away from him after all he's done for her.

"Can you tell me if you see anything?" Carlisle asked as he shined a small flashlight in front of Bella's eyes, slowly going from the left to the right. Bella barely blinked as her brown irises grew brighter under the small yellow light. When he noticed she didn't react at all, he gently coaxed, "It could be a shadow or a blur..."

Bella looked away, a sight slipping past her lips, "There's nothing there."

"Don't put pressure on yourself, sweetheart. This is just to understand your senses and reflexes better so that I can know what to monitor," Bella nodded as she rubbed her face with her good hand before wincing when her fingers pressed against the bruise on her left cheekbone. The look she attempted to give him didn't go unnoticed as Carlisle said, "They look much better. Pretty soon, they'll all be gone."

Bella's lips parted to speak but were interrupted by a quick knock on the door to their left. Seconds later, she heard her best friend speak in her usual easygoing voice, "Good morning, Bella! Carlisle," though Bella couldn't see how quickly Alice was moving, she could smell the scent of fresh mint before the pixie approached her. "If you're done, would you mind if I kidnap my friend here?"

"I suppose we can continue at another time," Carlisle sighed, but the smile in his voice could not have been missed, "Just take it easy, alright? Your back is still healing."

"We'll be extra careful!" Alice chimed as the sound of footsteps fading away caught Bella's attention, telling her that Carlisle was leaving the room.

"Walk slowly and keep an eye on her, Alice, will you?" Carlisle had murmured low enough that Bella hadn't heard it. A slight nod from Alice was all Carlisle needed before he walked out of his study and downstairs to join Esme.

"And then there were two!"

Bella smiled at Alice and reached her hand out to her, "Hi, Alice."

Alice took Bella's warm hand in her cold one and gently squeezed it, "Bella, I think it's time to get you into some new pajamas. Lucky for you, I have the perfect ones picked out and waiting for you in your room."

"You already went shopping for me?" Bella groaned as she stood up from the chair she's been sitting in and moved to walk forward but instantly hesitated. Finally, she blinked for what felt like the first time, and she was completely aware of everything and nothing around all at once.

Something so natural such as walking, has completely changed for her.

Now it all feels as if she's walking in a room with no light whatsoever and like a child, Bella was scared of what could happen. Would she fall? Bump into something fragile on a table and shatter it? The thought of all of that terrified her more than any supernatural being ever has—

A small cold hand landed on her shoulder, and Alice said softly, "I'm here. I won't let anything happen."

Tears had welled up in the back of her throat, and her heart was beating quickly on her chest, but Bella took a hesitant step forward. Every one of her senses was heightened; she paid more attention to the sound of her shallow breaths, the way her fuzzy socks rubbed against the carpet, how she became completely aware of Alice's presence beside her.

Bella stopped after taking a few steps, her hands in front of her by her hips as if to feel for anything that she may bump into.

"Is there anything close by?"

"A coffee table in front of you," Alice responded and kept her hand on the girl's shoulder as Bella took another step before bending down to feel for the table a few inches away from her. Slowly, Bella's hands tapped the wooden surface until she felt the corner to her left and followed the straight edge like a line. When she passed the coffee table completely without bumping into it, Bella straightened out and said to Alice, "Thanks."

"From here, we walk straight until we make it out of the office, and then we'll turn right to walk up the stairs. You feeling up to it?" Alice asked, her golden eyes softening as she watched her best friend concentrate on walking across the room with her hands held out in front of her.

"Yeah...that should be easy enough." Bella breathed out once she patted the doorframe before holding onto it and finding the wall in the hallway. Her palm lay flat on the wall the entire time, only stopping when she feared she would bump into a chair or a table or when Alice would say so. Walking up the stairs was a slow work in progress as she held onto the railing the entire time, her feet slowly learning the distance between each step by stepping awkwardly. When she made it to the top of the landing, Bella already felt somewhat dizzy and out of breath, "See...easy."

"Yeah," Alice said, hoping to hide the sadness she felt by sounding happy and carefree like she always does even though she felt just about as useless as dirt for not being able to prevent any of this from happening to Bella.

The wave of concern and love being sent her way a few seconds later made Alice shake away the negative thoughts towards herself, and a smile graced her lips as she silently thanked her husband for not only easing her own sadness but Bella's as well—even if for just a moment.

"I'll go run the water and get you once it's ready. Sound good?" Alice asked as she helped Bella sit on the edge of her bed before stepping away.

"Yeah, thanks, Alice."

Once she no longer felt Alice in the room and heard the water in the bathtub running, Bella let out a sigh of relief. A small part of her was relieved to see that she could at least walk around and up the stairs without too much help, while the other doubted how long her luck would last before she fell again.

Running her hand over her face, Bella's fingers pressed against the bruise on her cheek again. She didn't flinch this time. Instead, she felt the throbbing pain against her skin increase before filling out a few moments later. The dried-up cuts were still healing on her cheekbone. Next, she felt bruises the size of fingers on her jaw, over her sore neck, and the brace on her other hand.

Bella could almost feel Jacob's hands on her now, his hot breath and strength in his hands as he held her in place while he...

Letting her hands fall onto her lap, Bella shut her eyes tightly until the images of Jacob Black faded away. The pain in her body was bad enough, but the one in her heart? It was still unbearable.

Bella had been so consumed by the fact that she couldn't see that she never considered what she looked like—rather, how bad she looked to Edward and his family.

"Alice." She murmured, waiting for Alice to walk back into the room as soon as she heard her name being called. Alice must have generously filled the bathtub with strawberry and vanilla-scented soaps because the scent instantly hit Bella's nose when Alice stood in front of her.

"Yes, Bella? What's wrong?" Her friend asked as if she were searching for anything that could be wrong with her, as if it wasn't already apparent.

"How bad...does it look? Really?"

Alice sucked in a breath and answered frankly, "Not as bad as it used to. It's healed up nicely now."

"My...face is...covered in bruises, isn't it?"

Alice gently placed her hand over Bella's arm and helped her stand, walking towards the bathroom, "It's mostly on one side of your face now. The worst is pretty much unnoticeable now..."

"Edward must be having a hard time looking at me, huh?"

"Stop it," Alice said, not an ounce of her bell-like voice could be recognized as her tone grew serious and it startled Bella. When Alice spoke again however, she sounded almost pained, "Please, don't do that to yourself, Bella. My brother can't stop looking at you. You're all he thinks about and you always will be. Trust that he loves you—that we love you."

Bella's cheeks flushed when she felt the pixie pull her into a hug and held her close, her small hands careful fo not harm the human girl.

"I'm sorry, Alice." Bella closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around Alice's small frame, wishing with all her heart that she could see her one more time and memorize all of Alice's beauty, kind golden eyes, and mischievous smile.

If she could see Edward one more time...

"Don't apologize. Just let me help you otherwise, I think we'll both be in a lot of trouble," Alice sighed happily as she stepped away and dipped her hand in the warm water in the tub to make sure the temperature was just right for the girl, "Now, let's get you in the tub and you can wash. After that we'll go downstairs and get you something to eat."

"Looks like you have it all mapped out," Bella tried to sound as easygoing as she used to be but it didn't feel the same anymore. None of it did.

That's because it isn't.

But a small part of Bella hoped she could still find some light shining through the darkness that consumed her days now.

Thanks for reading x