***A/N****

Hi everyone! Since some of you have asked, here's a chapter to get into Edwards head a little bit for the last few days...and a little bonus POV at the end.

Also, some of you have asked if Mark is one of the 'bad guys' watching Bella. He's not, and you probably won't hear any more about Mark. Unfortunately he just got on Edwards bad side for upsetting our Bella with his loud antics! Let's see how Edward handled that one...

As always, S. Meyer owns everything Twilight.

Chapter 29- You're Not Alone

EPOV

I walked out of the kitchen, smiling and shaking my head, as I listened to the fading voices discuss bundt cakes. I shut the door, and made my way to the car, to head to the precinct.

I put on my sunglasses, and glanced over my shoulder at the house, thinking about how it felt to watch Bella interact with my family. It seemed natural, and I couldn't help but feel relieved she decided to stay with Esme and Carlisle while she recovered.

As I pulled out of the driveway, I felt my jaw tense, knowing that after what I witnessed last night, 'relieved' was a gross understatement. My hands gripped the steering wheel tightly, as I remembered the fear that hit me when I knocked on her apartment door and heard her scream.

I was out of my mind thinking someone was in there with her, hurting her. I was about to shoot the lock off the door, when it suddenly flew open, and she slammed into me.

When she finally loosened her hold from around my neck, and I saw the anguished look on her face, I only needed to know two things, - what the fuck happened, and who needed to pay for it.

When I picked her up and carried her into the apartment, it took a few minutes for her to calm down and tell me what happened. When she said she had been afraid Dolan had come back, I wanted to rip the fucker's head off all over again.

I knew she was embarrassed, that was evident, but there was no way I was going to leave her alone. All I could picture was her holding a butcher knife, trying to protect herself. No, I was staying. I did worry for a minute she might kick me out, but if that happened, I'd just camp outside her door in the hallway.

When she went into her room, and I was certain she had fallen asleep, I took the keys from the entryway table, and slipped out into the hallway, locking the door behind me. I wanted to question some of her neighbors to see if any of them heard or saw anything. As much as she tried to convince me she had simply overreacted, I wanted to make sure there wasn't an actual threat here to her. While I didn't think Dolan was nearby, my instincts told me there were plenty of other assholes who might try to harm a single woman living alone.

It was still early in the evening, so I didn't feel too concerned about knocking on doors, and once I flashed my badge, residents were pretty cooperative. Most of them reported hearing a commotion in the hall about an hour earlier. Everyone I questioned agreed the noises had come from the same location, an apartment a few doors down from Bella's.

When I knocked on the door in question, it took a few minutes for someone to answer, but when he did, I knew right away he was loaded. He wore a huge smile and had a beer in his hand. There were two men behind him, sitting on the couch watching a football game, and they looked half in the bag too.

I heard one of them yell, "Is that the pizza?" I pulled out my badge, and the smile on the guys face fell. He looked at me a little nervously and said, "What can I do for you Officer?"

I peered inside, and saw his buddies craning their necks from their positions on the couch, trying to see what was going on.

I looked at him stonily, and said, "Sir, we've received some complaints about noise coming from this apartment, some banging and yelling. You wanna tell me what's going on?"

He swallowed, and looked over at his friends who seemed to be very interested in the game all of a sudden.

He looked back at me a little panicked, and said, "Officer, I'm sorry about that, we just came back from a seminar. I um, couldn't find my keys and then, um, oh, and no one drove, we took an Uber..."

I cut him off, "Sir, I didn't ask you how you got home, I'm not concerned with that right now. What I am concerned with is that you've disturbed quite a few people on this floor with the noise you were making. Enough to scare some of them quite badly."

I thought about the terror on Bella's face from earlier, and my anger came to the surface again, "You know, I could ask you to come down for questioning...disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, destruction of property..."

His eyes got wide, "Officer, really, we're really sorry, we had no idea we were that loud, we were just blowing off steam after a really long day and got a little drunk. We'll keep it down, we promise, right guys?"

The two on the couch were still staring at the football game, pretending to be preoccupied and not saying anything.

Looks like you might need better friends, asshole.

I stared at him for a few seconds, making him sweat it out, and said, "Just remember to keep it down."

I gave him another hard look and turned around to head back to Bella's apartment.

He called after me as I walked down the hall, "We will Officer, sorry about that, have a good night."

When I got back, I crept to Bella's door and listened to make sure she was still sleeping. When I didn't hear anything, I made my way over to the couch, and took off my shirt and pants and got comfortable on the sofa with the blanket and pillow she left for me. I stared up at the ceiling for awhile and thought about what happened tonight, and I knew there was no way she was staying here alone one more goddamn night, not if I could help it. She was either going to have her friends come out here or she was going to Esme and Carlisle's. That, or she was coming home with me.

Really Cullen?

Yeah, really. I didn't care if it made me sound like a male chauvinist, she was not staying alone, not after tonight. I just needed to figure out a way to convince her.

I wondered again who the 'Jake' person was, and why he wasn't out here with her. From the text messages and voicemails he left, it was obvious he was someone important to her. If he wasn't her current boyfriend, maybe he was an ex? Whoever he was, all I knew was I didn't want him out here with her. I knew that made me sound like an asshole, since I just finished saying I wanted her to have someone stay with her, but her friend Angela would do just fine, or Esme, or yeah...me.

When she agreed the next morning to stay with Esme and Carlisle, I was glad I didn't have to do too much to convince her. I wasn't quite sure what I would say other than, 'because I said so', and yeah, I didn't think that would have gone over too well.

I knew she didn't feel completely comfortable with the arrangement, but after we stopped and got her new phone, I saw her mood improve a little bit, and once we arrived at the house, and she met Alice, I think she relaxed even more.

When she stopped me from leaving her room, to thank me, I walked back to stand in front of her and felt my heart constrict. I would do it all again, and three times on Sunday to keep her safe, and she needed to know that. I was still a little confused as to where these possessive and protective feelings were coming from, but I was done questioning it.

I was almost to the precinct, still lost in my thoughts about Bella, when out of the corner of my eye, I saw a car wash, and I made a spur of the moment decision to cut over in traffic and drive in. I pulled up, paid the attendant, and put the car in neutral, as the conveyor took hold and propelled my car through the rotating pads.

I leaned back in my seat, still thinking about the last few days, as the machines worked up a lather, rinsed and then finally blew hot air to dry the car. I was so engrossed in my thoughts when I started to pull out onto the street, that I didn't even see the man walking directly in front of my car. My eyes got wide and I uttered a loud, "Shit!" as I slammed on the brakes, just missing him by mere inches.

I was sucking in air in quick intervals as the adrenaline rushed through me, and I looked through the windshield at the man I almost plowed into.

His startled eyes met mine, and we stared at each other, my heart racing and my hands gripping the steering wheel. He had a full dark beard which covered the entire lower half of his face, and on his head he wore a tight fitting truckers hat, the hair underneath long, almost to his shoulders. His clothes were loose and a few sizes too large. He looked homeless. After we stared at each other for a few seconds, he slowly turned his head, and started walking again.

When my heartbeat came back to normal, I pushed in the clutch, shifted into first, and slowly started to pull back out onto the street, making sure I looked both ways.

Get your head out of your ass before you kill someone.

I pulled into the parking lot at work, determined not to think about the girl who fit so perfectly in my arms last night, and instead, focus on the cases that were waiting for me on my desk.

~!~

Homeless Man POV

I shuffled along the sidewalk lost in thought. It wasn't safe for me to be out during the day, but I needed to get food and a few other things. I had to meet the kid soon so we could figure out the next plan of action. Most days I thought it was a miracle we had stayed alive this long.

I had my head down, not paying attention when I heard the squeal of brakes and I looked up startled, into the wide eyes of the man behind the steering wheel. He was breathing heavily as he realized how close he came to hitting me. Wouldn't that be ironic? If I made it all this time and ended up dying by being hit by a car. We stared at each other for a few moments, and then I turned my head and continued to walk along the sidewalk.

I watched him pull out of the car wash parking lot, and continued on my way. Before I lowered my head, my eye caught a large bulletin board next to the attendants podium, and I saw a few flyers blowing in the breeze. As I came closer, I walked up to the board and looked at a bright blue flyer stuck in the middle, and I felt my heart go into my throat. I swallowed thickly and looked around quickly, before grabbing the flyer from the board and stuffing it my pocket.

"Damn it, Bella." I whispered under my breath. "What are you doing?"

I looked around again to see if anyone was watching me, and when I didn't see anyone suspicious, I hurried up and moved along, terrified more than ever, because now, I wasn't just worried about myself and the kid, now I was worried about her.

***A/N*****

Hmmmmmm...who could the homeless man be?

I had few questions from the last chapter:

What are tchotchke's?- They are small decorative objects or trinkets

What tv show did Bella's t shirt reference?- Three's Company

What are bundts?- They are cakes made in a ridged mold pan and were popular in the 50's and 60's

And for everyone who commented about loving the older sitcoms...I am old too, and grew up on them. Good times :)