Like always…Thanks Sherry and Paige! The work you've done on this story is incredible!

"Little black submarines, operator please

Put me back on the line

Told my girl I'd be back, operator please

This is wreckin' my mind

Oh, can it be? The voices calling me

They get lost and out of time

I should've seen it glow, but everybody knows

That a broken heart is blind."

-The Black Keys-

EPOV:

For the first time since starting my job, I decide to have a meal with the guys after work. Although I don't think Emmett told them about my problems, they do seem to have some understanding when it comes to what I feel comfortable doing.

We go to a diner near the site we're working on. As we begin to talk, I wonder why I've been so fucking nervous about this. I didn't know just how much I had in common with the guys I worked with until now. Maybe some of these guys could become good friends. As we continue to talk, time seems to escape me. I didn't realize how late it was getting, until Bella texted me. She knew I was going out after work, but it's almost six o'clock and I'm sure she's expecting me home for dinner. I unlock my cell to read her text, and I'm surprised by her text.

Please come home.

She'll usually end a message with an 'I love you' or something like that. This is straight to the point and completely out of the norm for her. Is she mad at me for going out? She seemed cool with it earlier, and even pushed me into going. Did she change her mind? I've always been fucking horrible at reading women, but Bella hasn't been one to play games with me. Maybe something is wrong!

"Hey, sorry guys, but I have to get heading home," I say, feeling cold all over.

What if she's in trouble...what if something happened to Charlie? Fuck, I need to get back now, I would be fucking gutted if anything happened to either of them. Bella and Charlie are the most important people in my life. Emmett must sense my distress, because he immediately looks concerned and says he'll see me out.

"Is everything okay, man? You look fucking spooked."

"Bella just wanted me back home, and her text sounded strange. I need to go home now, just in case it's something bad."

Emmett nods, still looking worried for me. "Well, man, if you need me I'm only a phone call away."

I know he's telling the truth, Emmett has been a good friend to me since I got the job. I nod my head, but hope it won't come to that. Perhaps I'm overreacting, but something in my gut tells me that something is wrong. Emmett pats me on the shoulder before heading back inside the diner. I jump into my car, trying to stay calm as I throw it in reverse and speed out of the parking lot and down the street. Due to my speed, I get back to my apartment in twenty minutes. I'm freaking the fuck out as I run up the stairs and reach Bella's apartment. I take a moment to pull myself together, I know I have to be strong if something fucked up is going on.

My stomach drops as soon as I enter her apartment. She's on the couch, holding Charlie protectively in her arms, as a man stands in front of her. It's fucking strange, while the guy's posture doesn't come off as threatening, Bella seems disturbed by him being here. Just seeing this fucker standing over her makes my blood boil. He has sandy blond hair, tanned skin, and an outfit that shouts 'Don't fuck with me because my dad's a lawyer.' He's my exact opposite and suddenly it clicks, this fucker must be the Liam guy she was talking about. I take a death breath and clench my twitchy fists, which would like nothing more than to make contact with his snarky fucking face.

"Bella, who the fuck is this guy?"

The guy has the nerve to turn around and glare at me. I glare right back and take another step forward. Don't kick his ass, Cullen. You can't afford to kick this guy's ass. He's probably a lawyer or some shit like that, and I can't have some privileged fuck charging me for assault and sending me off to jail.

"He, was just leaving," Bella spits out as she rocks my now crying son in her arms.

"Bells, don't be like that. I just wanted to catch up," he calmly states, as if he doesn't understand how wrong this situation is.

The way he calls her 'Bells' just rubs me the wrong way. He's so condescending, how dare he talk to my girl like that?

"Well, my girlfriend doesn't want to catch up with you."

His whole demeanor shifts and his 'nice guy' attitude is long gone. He doesn't look dangerous, he just looks incredibly fucking snarky. He looks like every douchebag I hated growing up.

He turns to me, and with a condescending look he says, "Bells, this guy, really? You could do so much better, babe."

Babe? Who the hell does this guy think he's dealing with? I take a step forward, trying to control my anger as I watch him move towards my girl.

He's now looming over Bella and our son and I'm fucking fuming. "I think it's time for you to leave," I say through clenched teeth.

"This is Bella's apartment, isn't it?" He asks, challenging me as he raises his brow.

"Get the fuck out of here, Liam. I've been civil, but it's time for you to leave."

The guy has the nerve to laugh. "Wow, my Bells has really grown-up. I didn't know you could stand up for yourself."

I've heard enough. Unable to contain myself, I cross the room in a few quick steps and grab Liam around the arm, yanking him away from my family. I don't give him time to say anything else, the broken look on my girl's face is enough for me to want to kick his ass. I don't let him make another snarky remark, and violently yank him from Bella's apartment. Charlie begins to cry harder, sensing my anger, and as much as I want to comfort him, I know I have to deal with this first. I don't need another shitty thing happening in my life.

"Hey man, ease up, will you?"

I throw him against the wall and get in his face. I'm not going to assault him, but he needs to know that I'm not going to tolerate him going after my girl. He pales as I lean in, so I'm just a few inches from his face. I want him to fucking smell my anger, and back the hell off.

"Leave her alone, she's mine. Whatever you two had is over. So, move on and stop harassing her."

"Fine, man. Just get away from me!"

I back off and he gives me an incredulous stare, as he adjusts the collar of his polo. He seems lost in thought for a moment, as he fixes his appearance, before finally giving me a cruel smirk.

"That girl in there is definitely not the Bella I remember. You should have seen her when she was eighteen. She was such a prude man, it took a few drinks to get her going. She eased up after I broke her in."

My fist smashes against his face before I can even think about what I'm doing. I feel a bone crunch under my knuckles and when I pull my fist back, it's covered with blood. I couldn't stop myself, I just had to wipe that smirk off his fucking face. Blood is dripping down his nose and onto his blue polo. He stares at me in shock, as he covers his nose with one of his hands. Fuck, I shouldn't have done that. I'm still fuming as I try to make sense of what this fucker did to my girl. Did he get her drunk and then take her virginity? That thought makes me want to vomit. How fucking dare he!

"Leave," I spit out.

"Thanks, man. I get your message loud and clear." He has the audacity to fucking laugh. "Just hear me out. She was a whore then, and she's a whore now. People don't change."

I ram my knee into his crotch and smirk as I see a tear escape his eye. This time, he doesn't smile, he doesn't smirk, instead he holds his balls in his hands and limps away.

"My girlfriend isn't a whore," I snarl at him, wanting nothing more than to kick him while he's fucking down. "Stay away from her. Or you'll have more to worry about than a knee to the groin and a broken nose."

"Fuck you," he spits out before limping down the hallway.

I snort. Is that really all he's got? How pathetic. Seeing him limp away brightens my mood for a bit, but it becomes grim again as soon as I go back to contemplating what he said. Did this guy hurt my girl? I know she said their relationship ended badly, but could there be more to the story that she just doesn't feel comfortable telling me. I don't want to push her to explain something she doesn't want to talk about, but I know it's going to eat at me until I know exactly what happened between the two of them. Knowing that he was the one to 'break her in' not only makes me mad, but it also makes me feel insanely fucking jealous. I know I have a past, and I can't judge my girl for having one as well, but that doesn't mean the truth doesn't hurt. She hasn't met any of the girls I used to fool around with, and I'm sure they wouldn't sit well with her either. Knowing that man had his hands on Bella, makes my skin crawl. He's lucky I didn't do more to him, because I sure as hell wanted to.

I rest against the wall, trying to control my anger before returning to my family. I don't want them to see me like this. My mind is going a mile a minute as I try to control my breathing. I feel the rush that comes with smashing my fist against something. I can feel the adrenaline coursing through my veins. That adrenaline is mixed with anger, which heightens my senses as my mind is filled with images inspired by what he just said. I also feel inferior, that man was my opposite in every way, and Bella used to date him. He's clean-cut, dressed in a wardrobe that probably costs more than my fucking apartment, and doesn't have a bit of ink on his body. Is that the type of man my girl wants? Why the fuck am I even considering that? Bella's with me! I run my bloodied hand through my unruly hair, tugging on it as I try to release some of my built-up tension.

As soon as I'm ready, I return inside, to find my girl worried as she sits on the couch, rocking my crying son. She takes in my appearance, and I suddenly feel fucking ashamed. I shouldn't have allowed myself to lose control like that, but when he uttered those disgusting words, I saw red. I wipe some of Liam's blood onto my shirt and cross the living room to sit next to Bella on the couch.

"He shouldn't be coming back," I quietly say.

She nods, seemingly happy with this information.

"I got here as soon as I could," I say apologetically.

"Thank you. I texted you as soon as he came."

"Did he just barge in here?" I ask, looking around to see if there were any signs of a forced entry.

"Pretty much. He never liked to listen to me."

What a domineering asshole.

"What did he say to you?" She asks.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he must have said something for you to go off on him like that."

I don't want to tell her, because I know how horrible it sounds. "It doesn't matter." I shrug.

"Tell me," she insists.

"Bella," I sigh, feeling tired all of the sudden. "It's not important."

She stiffens at my side. "I didn't know we were keeping secrets from each other now."

"He said," I stop, finding it hard to repeat the words. "He said that you used to be sort of 'prudish' and needed a few drinks in you before you loosened up enough to have sex."

Her entire body tenses up and her beautiful features scrunch in anger.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I ask, as I wrap my arm around her.

She relaxes against my side and shakes her head. We sit in silence for a long time. I move Charlie onto my lap and play with him while Bella sits in a trance at my side. I try to coax her out of it, but I know she needs time to deal with this on her own. Bella looks at my hands, which are both dirty with Liam's blood. My right hand aches for ice and I know my knuckles will be hurting tomorrow.

"Let me wash you up," she says, before walking off to the kitchen.

She returns with a washcloth and a bowl of water in hand and sits down next to me on the couch. She's gentle as she begins to wash my right hand, cleaning it off with a cloth before kissing each finger and dipping my hand into the bowl of water.

"I love you," I whisper, moved by her tenderness.

"I know," she smiles softly. "I love you too."

She moves to work on my left hand, removing the bandages on my fingers before rubbing the blood off with a cloth. The gesture is so relaxing that I don't realize what's done. Once I do, my eyes shoot open and stare at my hand, specifically my ring finger which is now exposed to her gaze. I look at her face, and see that it's too late to hope the tattoo will go unnoticed. She traces the letters with her delicate finger, her brows knitted together in confusion as she stares at her name inked on my skin.

"Edward, what's this?"

A/N: Looks like Edward has some explaining to do…can't wait to hear your thoughts!

Song- "Little Black Submarines" by The Black Keys.