Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or Charmed.

Chapter 28

"Pull over," Edward suddenly exclaims. I've been driving for over an hour and we've been silent the entire time, each in our own head as I fly down I-5.

I glance at him as if he's grown two heads. We can't stop, time is the only thing on our side right now and the sooner we get out of the state the sooner I can stop.

"What? Why?" I clutch the steering wheel nervously.

"Bella, just do it. Please."

Pursing my lips, I glance behind me. The highway is relatively clear, it's not much traffic on the interstate tonight. Sighing, I follow his directive and pull into the emergency lane. Why the hell would he want us to stop?

"What now?" I turn to him.

"Toss your phone out of the window," he states. I begin cackling. Surely, he's joking or maybe I'm so delirious I misheard him. However, his face is solemn as he stares at me and I sober up.

He's serious.

"What the hell Edward? Are you insane? I'm not tossing my phone!" I practically yell. He must be out of his mind. Perhaps he's lost too much blood and it's fucking with his brain.

"Bella, you have to get rid of it. They can and they will track us that way," he says slowly.

"Edward please, there has to be another way. What am I going to do without it? I have to get in touch with Alice and Rose and my parents. I have to let them know I'm okay, they'll be worried," I plead.

"Bella, we'll figure out a safe way to contact them soon, I promise. But the only way to really go off the grid is with no cell phones, they can be hacked and they'll easily identify our location if we keep them on us. We'll pick up some burners when we can and we'll communicate that way. I wouldn't make you do this if it wasn't the only way," he finishes with a sigh.

"Edward…" I groan, but I know he's right. Who's to say someone isn't tracking our cellphones right now. I gulp loudly. I see Edward reach into his own pocket and pull his phone out.

"I have to throw mine too," he murmurs.

"You go first," I pout. He chuckles and begins removing the battery, breaks it, then tosses it out of his open window.

"Your turn," he says.

Sighing again, I glance at my phone one more time before taking out the battery, rolling down my window, and blindly toss it.

Wordlessly, I put the car in drive and pull back onto the highway lanes.

"When this is all over you owe me a new iPhone," I mumble staring straight ahead.

"If we survive this, I'll buy you the entire Apple company," he snickers leaning back into this seat.

If we survive this.

He's right…we may not come out of this alive. Who knows what lays ahead of us? What could happen to us? My phone should be my last worry.

It's as if Edward is reading my mind because he gently grazes my shoulder and whispers.

"Hey, you will make it out of this Bella. I promise you that. If it's the last thing I ever do."

I can only stare at him for so long as I drive, but Edward's face is somber yet resolute. He's telling me that he isn't going to let anything happen to me, and I believe him.

I can only nod and continue driving. Edward closes his eyes and tries to rest, but I can tell he's uncomfortable as he fidgets and adjusts in his seat every few minutes. After thirty minutes of this, he gives up and opens his eyes.

My curiosity gets the best of me. I need to figure out what I've just been swept into.

"So… Aro is after me?" I ask.

"Yes," is his simple response.

"The man from the picture."

"Yes."

"Why? Why me of all people? I'm no one special, what the hell does he have against me?"

"To answer your first question… you're important to him. And he has something against you because of your father."

"Important how? And my father's been dead for years, what could he have against me?"

"Bella, it's a long story," I can tell he's trying to steer me away from the conversation.

I want to tell him I don't care, that we have plenty of time and I need to know what the hell is going on right now? But a scarier thought crosses my mind.

"Oh my God! What about Rose and Alice? I have to tell them. They could get hurt because of me!" I practically swerve with the realization and Edwards hand grips the wheel steadying it.

"Whoa, he won't touch them, Bella. Calm down, it's okay," his hand gingerly lets go of mine.

"What?! How do you know he won't?"

"I don't know Aro that well, but well enough. He doesn't like to draw attention to himself, the two roommates of Bella Swan suddenly go missing or end up dead after she becomes involved in a murder investigation is exactly what he doesn't want to happen. Think of all the attention that would bring. He likes to move in silence."

I shudder at the mental picture of something happening to my best friends, my sisters. But I pray he's right. Short of turning the car around and warning them, there's no way to know for sure. But for now, I have to believe they're safe. I must have faith.

"They are fine…I promise you," he's adamant and all I can do is nod and try to calm my racing heart.

I clear my throat and try to distract myself from worrying.

"So… if Edward Masen isn't your real name…then what is it?"

I can sense he's uncomfortable but he still answers.

"Cullen."

"Cullen?" I glance at him trying to gauge his reaction. His face is blank.

"Yes…Edward Cullen is my real name."

"Wow…" my voice trails off as a swell of anger overcomes me. What hasn't he lied about? I've fallen in love with a man who isn't even real. I must force this fury down for now. I can be angry later. After we've escaped whoever is after us and after we have somewhere safe to rest.

Snorting, I turn to face him. "That actually suits you more than Masen. I like it."

"Really?" he sounds somewhat confused.

"Yeah," I trail off.

"Bella I'm so –," he starts, but I can't hear those words. Not right now.

"Stop it, Edward, we don't have time for that right now. Where the hell am I driving to anyway?" I ask.

"The Mexico border," he simply says.

"Edward… I don't have a passport, we can't go to Mexico."

The exasperation is clear in my tone.

"Who said anything about going into Mexico? I just said the border."

I'm confused now. And he senses that and continues.

"We're going as far south as we can. They'll no doubt be sending backup from Chicago…and lots of it after the news about Alec gets out. They'll be looking for me and more importantly, you and I won't let them get to you, over my dead body," Edward is murmuring to himself by the end. I have to call his name several times for him to snap out of it.

"Sorry," he shakes his head gently and clutches his side again. I eye him.

"I'm going to pull over soon, I have to look at your wound and rewrap you."

"No. Drive as far as you can for now, I'll be ok. We need to put as much space between us and San Francisco."

"I understand that, but we have to make sure you heal properly or you'll be no good."

"We will Bella," he lays his hand against mine on the wheel. It feels wonderful and warm but I can't help but pull away. We don't have time for that right now. Right now, we're just two people trying to stay alive and we need each other to do that. Our relationship is purely symbiotic.

Yeah right.

I refuse to look at his crestfallen face. Instead, I focus on the mile markers and freeway signs as we drive further and further away from San Francisco. I realize that he never answered my question earlier and I try again.

"How did Aro know my father?"

"Bella, I don't think we should talk about that right now. You're driving and I don't want you upset."

"You can't just answer the question?"

"I promise once we find somewhere to settle in, I'll tell you everything you want to know."

"Edward, tell me now. For us to work together and stay alive I need answers."

I'm not giving up and he knows.

"They were friends once upon a time," he says after a beat of silence.

"Wait…an alleged friend of my dad wants me killed?" I scoff. "Some friend he is."

"Sometimes the ones closest to us become our worst enemies," he says softly. I shake my head in disgust.

I pause for a moment before his words back at the apartment echo in my head.

"You told me you didn't know how they were connected, were you lying?" I hear the accusation in my voice.

Edward shifts uncomfortably in his seat. "Bella, I didn't want to overwhelm you, you'd already discovered so much I wanted to de-escalate the situation."

"I'm sick of the lies Edward, you can't keep on covering the truth, it causes more harm than good. Do you know more about this situation than you're letting on?"

God, I wish I wasn't driving right now so I could see every expression on his face.

"Yes," he says simply. My eyes close briefly. I want to scream, he's so frustrating.

"So if they were friends, why didn't it seem that way the one time he came to visit?" I shake my head.

"What do you mean? You've met him?" Edward leans forward, curiosity in his voice.

"I wouldn't say 'met him,' but I have a vivid memory of Aro coming to our home one night, just a few weeks before my parent's di-,were murdered," my breath catches and I steel myself, just saying the words do something to me, but I fight past it. I can't dwell on that right now or I'll break down, I have to wait to fully process it.

Edward must see how difficult it is for me to say the words because he reaches out again but stops himself and places his hand back in his lap.

"Anyway, one night I woke up well after midnight and snuck downstairs. My father and the man who I now know as Aro were sitting at the kitchen table having an intense conversation, almost speaking in code. Aro never saw me though and I remember my mom being so…disturbed by his presence. I never mentioned it again and then a few weeks later they were gone. I've been having such vivid dreams of that night lately and now I know why. I think deep down my subconscious was trying to warn me about something… about him," I finish.

"That explains a lot," Edward says simply.

"Yeah...especially the picture I found of them together."

"I wish I could see this picture you speak of," he says leaning back into the seat. I can see he's getting tired again.

"Well if someone hadn't made me throw out my phone, I could've shown you the copy I took," I say sarcastically.

"It was for our own good," he says through a yawn.

"Yeah yeah, I know," I wave him off.

I drive for a few more hours after Edward dozes off.

We're well past Los Angeles and I think we're far enough now that I can stop.

Edward's been grimacing in his sleep and I know I need to pull over soon because he needs to be looked at and we both need to rest.

Edwards must feel when we exit the freeway because his eyes spring open and he sits up slightly.

"Bella, what are you doing?" Question clouds his tone.

"I saw a sign for a 24-hour pharmacy. If your plan worked they stopped tracking us a long time ago. It's safe to stop for a while. I'm going to grab some items and food because I'm starving and I'm going to fix you up. Any problems?" I ask authoritatively.

He sighs and shakes his head but he can't stop the small smile that appears. "You're something else. You know that?"

"I've been told," I shrug nonchalantly.

"How much cash do you have on you?" he asks.

"Not very much. You?"

"I don't want to pull anything out of the ATM, but we should have enough to last us a few days."

It's not long before we see the fluorescent signs of the small pharmacy blinking.

The parking lot is empty save a small hatchback parked by the door.

"I'll go inside with you," Edward begins to unbuckle his seatbelt and I stop him.

"No Edward. It may alert someone if they see an injured man bleeding at 4 in the morning," I reason, even though I'm not a much prettier sight with my bruises, scuffs, and disheveled hair. I try and smooth it into some sort of presentable style.

Sighing, he agrees but grabs his gun and proceeds to take lookout.

"Just the essentials okay?" I nod in agreement, grab a couple of bills, and step out into the late night/early morning air.

There's a young guy at the counter who looks bored out of his mind. He hardly even glances at me when I step into the store. Good. The fewer people I interact with the better. I quickly grab the gauze, band-aids, ointment, cleansing wipes, and pain medication. They have a few cold sandwiches' left in the fridge so I grab those, chips, and drinks. When I think I have everything I head to the counter. The guy barely acknowledges me as he rings me up but I begin to get antsy, we need to get out of here and back on the road. My paranoia is growing as I realize it'll be sunrise soon.

I grab the bags and hurriedly rush out of the front door.

That's when I hear the sirens coming loud and fast down the road.

Oh no! They've found us. I begin to sprint towards the car.

We have to get out of here now!

Edward sees me running and flings the door open.

"Bella, calm down," he whispers- yells.

"Edward, we have to go!" I yell back. He's unfazed.

"Bella stop, it's okay. Look," he turns me towards the main street as the police fly past us and the pharmacy, towards wherever they've been called to. We're not even a blip on their radar. I overreacted for no reason. I suddenly feel silly clutching the bags.

"I'm sorry," I breathe. I guess I'm on edge.

Edward gives me small smile and rubs my back gently.

"It's okay. Come on, let's get out of here."

We find a dark side street where we'll be hidden. Pulling over, I give him the medication to take and we quickly eat, scarfing down two sandwiches each and chips. Afterward, I clean up and have him open his shirt and lay back in the seat as far as he can. I quickly rewrap his wound with minimal tensing from him, the meds must be doing their job. After we're cleaned up, he's adamant that he wants to drive. I roll my eyes and tell him to rest.

"No Bella, you've driven long enough. I feel better and we're four hours from Arizona. Once we reach there we'll stop. Okay?" I hate that he's right, but he is. I'm going to have to rest soon or I'll be no good for either of us.

Ten minutes later we're back on the road. I don't realize how exhausted I am until I'm seated in the passenger seat. The last two days finally catch up with me, all the adrenaline rushes, the crashes, and now all I want to do is sleep. And I do.

When I awake, the sun is out. Edward is listening to the radio, fingers drumming along slightly on the steering wheel.

"We're about to cross into Arizona," he says without even peeking at me, sensing that I'm awake.

"How long have I been asleep?" My voice is groggy and I stretch slightly.

"A while," he smirks at me. His green eyes are sparkling, faint crinkles around them. The sunshine illuminates his face perfectly. God, even after everything that's happened, I can't deny how beautiful he is.

However, I refuse to dwell on that thought.

"Edward we're going to have to stop. You can't drive anymore it's been too long," I say through a yawn.

"I'll be fine," his voice is gruff.

"No Edward, I'm sure you're uncomfortable and just as exhausted as I am and you need to rest."

"Okay, we'll stop in another hour," he sighs. I don't care though, we have too much to talk about and we need to figure out our next move instead of just driving mindlessly.

"No, now Edward," I'm firm enough that he glances at me now, but he knows I'm serious and simply nods.

"We'll find a cheap motel…something low key," he says. I nod and watch the trees zoom by us, the late morning sun shines down on us.

"Do you think they found him?" I ask as I continue to stare out the window.

"I'm not sure. Even if the police didn't find anything last night, I'm sure the junkyard workers will eventually stumble across him."

"We should've hidden him better," I murmur.

"We had no time Baby," his voice is soft and soothing.

I glance at him when he calls me that, but I say nothing. Neither does he.

Eventually, we pull up to a hole-in-the-wall motel about 20 miles ahead. One of those pay-by-the-hour type of places. I didn't even know those still existed.

"I have about two thousand on me," he states.

"That's a lot…" I respond.

"Yeah…well, I had plans for it," he says cryptically. I don't bother to question it.

"Ok, so budgeting our money we have enough cash for two weeks of the cheapest motels, junk food, and gas. But then I'm not sure where we go from here and how we get more money," I calculate our expenses.

"I'll figure it out Bella…don't worry," his expression is earnest, and deep down I believe him when he says not to worry.

We park and enter the small run-down office of Express Inn. There aren't many cars in the lot, they must not get many visitors at one time. There's an older woman at the front desk flipping through a book, she seems nice enough. You can tell she's all about her money and means business.

"Hi, we'd like to get one room please," I say as lightheartedly as possible I hope we don't look suspicious in our dirty clothes and scuffed-up faces.

"How many hours?" she questions flipping through an old ledger-style book.

I glance at Edward, blush on my face.

"Two days, please. And double beds." I say firmly.

"Okay one moment," she steps away to grab something.

Edward pulls me aside whispering so she won't overhear.

"Bella, I'm not sure if we should stay here more than a day."

I raise an eyebrow in challenge, I'm tired of him being evasive. This ends now.

"No, we're going to need it. We have a lot to cover. We're going to clean up and rest. And then you're going to tell me everything you know."