Chapter 12 – Challenge

I had been in a lot of sticky and somewhat scary situations in the past, but nothing compared to standing in front of the Chief of Police, after his mentally unstable daughter told him we just fucked between the aisles of her bookstore.

Just kill me now.

"Mr. Cullen, is it?" Chief Swan asked. His voice was void of any friendliness whatsoever, which was understandable given our current situation, but still sent chills up my spine.

"Uh… yes, Sir," I mumbled, almost incoherently like the stumbling coward I was. We had never met before, so I wasn't exactly sure how he knew who I was, thus leaving me even more nervous, if that were possible.

His glare never left me, but his next comment was directed towards Alice. "Bella, honey, I'm going to have to take a rain check on our lunch date. Mr. Cullen and I need to have a little discussion."

"I'm not Bella," Alice said defensively and full of irritation. "And if you're planning to tell him what a fucking lunatic I am, you can save it. He already knows, and he rather enjoys it if you ask me."

"I don't give a flying hoot what he thinks he knows," he retorted. "We are going for a little ride in my car to have a friendly conversation."

"Are you going to make him sit in the back like a criminal?" Alice asked, suddenly becoming far too excited.

"Perhaps," her father deadpanned.

She giggled, and then winked at me before offering a parting wave of her fingers.

Great.

I timidly followed Chief Swan out of the bookstore and got into the back of his cruiser. He shut me in, and of course, I heard the doors lock, which made me jump.

After walking around the car and getting into the driver's seat, he drove us out of the lot without saying a word. It wasn't until he pulled up to the police station that he acknowledged that I was even there.

His eyes locked with mine through the rearview mirror, but he still didn't speak. He just stared, making my anxiety skyrocket even higher than it already was.

After several long beats, I cleared the wad of scared shitless-ness in the back of my throat. "Um, Sir? Am I in some kind of trouble?" I questioned, wondering if Rosalie was able to manipulate some kind of criminal charge on me after all.

He didn't answer verbally, but he finally broke his glare and got out of the car, before opening my door from the outside.

I apprehensively exited, but when he held open the front passenger door for me, my confusion overtook my fear, but only slightly. "Sir?"

"Just get in. We need to talk," he finally answered. "I only put you in back to humor my daughter."

"Oh." I forced out a nervous laugh, but his expression made me think better of it, so I immediately shut the hell up and got back into the car.

He drove us around the big outer loop of town, and finally parked just outside the city limit at a trucker rest-stop.

Thankfully, his deadly silence was over. "Edward, is it?"

"Yes. I'm sorry, I don't remember meeting you before," I said as courteously as possible.

"We haven't met, but I know your parents and your mother did mention that you have been spending time with Bella recently," he replied, making no attempt to disguise the bitterness in his tone.

Just fucking perfect.

"Knowing Bella has spent any amount of extended time with anyone," he continued, "leaves me to believe that she already has feelings for you. I need you to understand…"

"Look, Sir, with all due respect," I cut him off, knowing he was going to try to detour me from wanting to continue my relationship with her. "Bella deserves a chance at having some form of a connection with people other than you."

"You're right, she does deserve that, but it's just not possible. You may think you understand her disorder, but there's even many in the medical field that don't properly comprehend what she endures daily and how she came about developing it. Has she told you the cause of her DID? Did you even think to ask?"

"Uh… no," I admitted, taken aback by his question. "I just assumed it was something that can happen like any other mental illness. I do know depression and bipolar disorders can occur without determinable cause. A chemical imbalance possibly," I rambled, realizing I probably knew even less than I never even thought to consider.

"Some depressions, and other forms of mental illness, can have no cause or can be created due to a chemical imbalance in the person. However, most cases of DID are derived from severe trauma in childhood; usually an ongoing abuse of some-sort."

My stomach immediately dropped. "You said most cases," I mumbled, suddenly feeling like my throat was closing in. Surely if Bella had been the victim of abuse I would have known. Then again, how the hell would I have known? The very idea of it was utterly gut-wrenching, and honestly made me feel nauseous.

"Bella is one of those cases," he said, confirming the worst.

My eyes reflexively squeezed shut as a way to brace myself from the pain of learning of her pain. It was not something I would have ever guessed in my darkest thoughts, but I suppose it made sense. Surviving abuse in childhood would certainly be enough to make someone's personality split, but now I was left wondering if I even wanted to know the exact circumstances.

Initially, I couldn't help but think the Chief was possibly the culprit behind her suffering? Logically, however, I quickly concluded that he probably wasn't. An abuser wouldn't care enough to give that information, and he seemed to be Bella's only family member that she had spoken of. I didn't want to know what happened to her, but in a way, I felt like I had to in order to be the supportive partner she needed.

"How… Who hurt her?"

Chief Swan sighed. "Bella is an adult and it's not my place to tell her story, so I won't go into detail of the actual incidents, but there are some things I think you should know in order to have a better understanding of what you're getting yourself into." He took a deep breath. "It happened when she was young, while living with her mother. As far as I'm aware, Bella doesn't even know the whole truth. Her alters bear that burden; as troublesome as they may be, I'm grateful for them."

"So… Bella doesn't have any idea what happened to her?" I asked, trying to get a better understanding.

"She knows something happened. She knows her mother is currently in jail for that something, but she has never discussed the details – not even with her psychologist, which is why I think she doesn't know. Plus, Rosalie has made certain comments that imply Bella's ignorance. From my understanding, Rosalie, in particular, holds those memories. I know she seems… harsh, but over the years I have learned to just give her space. She has a purpose – an important one at that. Bella is able to function as much as she does because Rosalie exists."

"So, whatever happened to Bella, Rosalie is the only one who knows?" I questioned.

"Well, I know what the police report states and what has been said by her doctors, but like I said, it's not my place to tell Bella. What happened to her is un-erasable. It happened, and all we can do is deal with the aftermath and be thankful she is able to cope at all. DID is how she copes. Her pediatric psychologist had once explained her condition to me in a matter that I could understand. Each alter was created during a specific time in her life when something severely traumatic happened to her."

I nodded, thinking I understood what he meant. "So, Rosalie was created when Bella was hurt?"

"Look, I'm no expert, but the way her doc explained it was this – the first time Bella was abused, she split, creating two alters, other than herself. The first was Rosalie, and the second was Bree. Now, Rosalie carried the memories, and when the abuse repeated, Rosalie would emerge and be the one to endure it. Bree, on the other-hand, maintained complete innocence from the ordeal, but was never able to mature past that point in time."

"Bree is Bella's lost innocence," I said, mostly to myself. But then something occurred to me. "Wait, Bree mentioned the bad men. She said that hiding under the bed never worked for her. If she doesn't remember what happened, why would she say that to me?"

"In their therapy sessions, which I was a part of early on, they all maintained that Bree knew nothing. If she spoke of bad men, it was probably just something the others warned her about. Perhaps as something to do if she ever met someone bad, until one of them could come out and take control of the situation."

I suppose that made sense. The knot in my stomach kept twisting tighter, but I had to hear anything and everything he was willing to tell me.

"What about Alice and Tanya?" I asked hesitantly.

"Tanya and Alice were both created when Bella was a teenager. The abuse she endured as a child went on for a while, but Rosalie kept it all wrapped up tight. When something different happened to her, Rosalie must have been caught off guard and Tanya and Alice were both created. Like with Bree, Tanya was unable to mature past the age she was during the incident, but she remains innocent and completely unaware of what happened, whereas Alice is aware, and she continued to mentally age along with Bella. Now, thankfully, not long after that particular incident, Bella came to live with me so the trauma that created Alice and Tanya was no longer a threat, which is why Alice wasn't as affected by all of it as Rosalie was. Rosalie is difficult… but only because she had to be in order to survive so much for so long. Alice is… well, Alice, for issues of her own experiences."

I sighed. "I guess I didn't realize there were real reasons behind their behavior," I admitted, feeling like absolute shit for all of my hostile interactions with Rosalie.

"So, you understand why your contact with Bella needs to end?" he asked, once again taking me aback.

"Um… no, Sir. I mean, knowing she was traumatized as a child is horrible, but I'm sorry, I don't see what any of that has to do with my current relationship with her," I replied honestly.

He huffed. "Bella is broken beyond repair. Now, don't get me wrong, I'd love nothing more than for my daughter to have a normal life, but that's just not possible for her. Rosalie will never allow a man to get anywhere close enough to form a lasting relationship with Bella. And even if she did, one man can't possibly understand or cater to all Bella's needs, which includes all of her alter's needs. Now, you even trying is admirable – really, it is – but it can't continue. All you're going to do is give her false hope, and when you ultimately decide you can't handle it, you're going to leave what's left of Bella in even more pieces. Do you understand?"

I took a moment to consider it. "Yeah, I understand," I said gently.

"Well, good. It's best to cut ties now before…"

"But I don't agree," I added, interrupting him mid-sentence once again. "I love Bella. I know that's hard to believe because we haven't known each other long, but my feelings are real. And I think she loves me too, so whatever damage you fear from the potential end of our relationship is already inevitable… unless it's not."

"What the hell is that suppose to mean?"

"Relationships end, it's true, and when they do it sucks for anyone going through it… But some relationships don't end. My parents have been married for thirty years and they're still going strong."

"Neither of your parents have a severe mental disorder," he countered.

I shrugged. "Maybe not severe, but they definitely have their issues. I think all couples have their ups and downs, but if they work through it, it's truly possible to find lasting love."

My love speech was almost ironic considering that I never believed any of that shit before Bella. Sure, my parents were together for a long time, but I never even considered them as some type of love story – they were just my parents. Now, having felt what it's like to want to fight for a person, I was only beginning to understand why anyone would want to do so. Bella was worth fighting for, even if her father couldn't see it.

"But it's not just Bella you're having to push through those ups and downs with," Chief Swan argued. "Her alters are very real, and they need to be considered. It's not possible for you to meet all of their needs in a relationship."

"Maybe not, but I'm certainly going to do my best," I said assuredly.

"Listen, Rosalie is…"

"A lesbian, I know."

"And Bree is…"

"A child. Sir, I know all of them. I don't have it all planned out just yet – I don't even think it's possible to pre-plan any of this. All I know is that I'm going to try. That's all anyone can do about anything. Bella deserves at least that."

"But Alice is a bit… wild. She would never be faithful to anyone. As her father, that makes me cringe, but as a man, I understand how that would be an impasse and a complete deal-breaker in a relationship."

"It could be, but she is only in control for a very limited amount of time, and in that time, since I first started seeing Bella, I have managed to keep Alice interested. I'm just going to need to keep finding ways to keep her engaged with me, and as I told Bella, I'm up for the challenge. I'm up for any challenge that any of her alters throw at me. I'm up for the challenge of loving Bella, in every sense of the word. I can only hope she is up for the same challenge because loving me is definitely not an easy feat either."

He considered my words for several long and heavy moments, and then he sighed. "As a parent… you just want to protect your child. I wasn't able to protect Bella when she was a kid… That wears on me with every beat of my heart. I pray you never know what that feels like. You seem like a good man, Edward. The kind of man I'd be honored to see my daughter with… but I just can't see it ending well."

"Who says it has to end at all?" I retorted with slight frustration.

He put up his finger to stop me. "I can't see it ending well, but that's not my decision to make. Bella and I agreed, a long time ago, to allow her to try to build some kind of life for herself. So far, she has managed to navigate through her muddled adulthood better than I could have ever imagined, so I'm sure as hell not going to tell her what to do when it comes to you. The main reason I wanted to speak to you in this way was to make sure you were sincere with your intentions with her, and I think you are. I won't ever ask you to walk away from her again, and I won't get any further involved. All I can do now is what I have been doing since she came back to Forks – be there for her if she breaks as she attempts to piece herself back together."

"I have no intention of breaking her," I said with conviction.

"I believe that. I really do. But we can't predict the future, and I can't protect her from everything. Truly understanding that will be my life's challenge that I don't see ever succeeding at. I know I'm going to still carry the guilt of not protecting her to my deathbed, and that's fine. That's my burden that I willingly carry because it's my duty and privilege to do so as her father. But…after speaking to you, you have my reluctant support moving forward."

I raised my brows in surprise. "Thank you."

"I just want Bella to be happy," he continued, "and if you can give her that, I'll be your biggest fan. All I ask is that, given this special circumstance, if your feelings begin to change and you're thinking about ending the relationship…please come talk to me first. I know that's a lot to ask, but I just want to be prepared and ready to help her in the fallout."

I nodded understandingly. "That's something I can certainly do."

Our talk went in a direction I wasn't expecting when I first got into his car, but I was grateful. He just loved his daughter and was concerned about her, which I appreciated. I was sure he would always carry a healthy level of distrust for me as the guy seeing his daughter, but he wanted to be our ally, and I couldn't ask for anything more from him.

We ended our conversation with a handshake and him asking me to call him Charlie. Chief Swan was terrifying, but Charlie, I liked.

When we finally made it back to the bookstore, Charlie and I were both surprised to see that Bella – or one of them – had closed early.

"That's strange," I mumbled.

"More like worrisome," Charlie corrected me. "The only other time she closed early was when Bree decided she was going to run away from home. She boarded a Greyhound bus to Los Angeles hoping to live in Disneyland, and she was missing for two days. It wasn't until Rosalie finally managed to talk her down and let her regain control that they came home. I don't even want to think about what could have happened to her out there."

"When we left, Alice was in control. Maybe she was just bored and wanted to go out?" I suggested. The idea of Alice "going out" left a pit in my stomach, knowing she had probably found another guy by then, but quite honestly, Charlie's concerns for her whereabouts were far more terrifying. What if one of them got lost, or was scared somewhere? I hated even the very thought of it.

"I'm going to go check the apartment," I told Charlie as I got out of his car and into mine.

"Please text me if you find her," Charlie requested.

We quickly exchanged info, and then we parted ways to search for her. A part of me wanted to go to all of Alice's local haunts in an attempt to thwart her intention of finding a date, but something told me to go straight to the apartment, and thankfully my hunch was right.

Her car is here – I text Charlie.

Thank god! Please have her call as soon as she can – Charlie replied.

Will do – I sent back, and then I put my phone in my pocket and headed inside.

I considered using the key Bella gave me to let myself in, but instead I paused at the door and knocked quietly.

"I'm not dead. I'm fine. Please leave me the hell alone!" Bella's angry voice reverberated through the hollow wood. The tone, of which, could only belong to one of them…

"Rosalie?" I called back to her.

"Ugh, fuckface, just leave me the hell alone! I'm packing my shit, and you and Bella can have this place. Ok?"

"Uh, so does that mean you aren't going to try to have me arrested?" I questioned carefully.

"How the fuck do you want me to respond to that?" she screeched back. "I'd happily take you down tomorrow if I could. But your threats against Emma have me against a fucking brick wall and I haven't figured out how to best you yet. YET! Just wait, yours is coming, you piece of shit."

Her words were like acid in my throat, and honestly made me feel like the piece of shit she saw me as. After learning what I did about Rosalie, and how and why she was created, I felt nothing but pity for the alter that wanted to ruin me, as well as regret for all my previous desires of retaliation. Even more important than finding a way to keep Alice's affections, I knew I needed to figure out how to make peace with Rose.

"Rosalie… hey, look, I do have a key that Bella gave me, but I want you to have it back," I told her, before sliding the small silver key under the door.

"What the hell are you playing at?" she questioned warily.

"I'm not playing at anything, but I want you to know, I will not stay in that apartment again without your consent. It was wrong of me to even think I could stay there at all knowing how uncomfortable it would make you. I apologize, and I also apologize for threatening Emma. That won't happen again."

I heard the deadbolt squeak unlocked, and then she opened the door just enough to look through it.

"I'll ask you again, what they hell are you playing at?" she said, just as angrily but perhaps with a tad more gentler undertone.

"I promise, I'm not playing anything. I just realized what a jerk I was, and I don't want to be like that anymore. I get you don't like me, but the truth is you don't even know me. If I really want to be with Bella, I finally understand that means I need you, and Alice, and Tanya, and Bree to be okay with it. You five are a package deal, right? I guess I just didn't fully get that until today."

"Yeah, well if you think I'm ever going to give you my blessing to date Bella, you have another thing coming," she said bitterly.

"I'm not asking for your blessing, I'm just asking for you to give me a chance – not even as Bella's boyfriend, but just as a person. You decided you hated me before we even met, and that's just not fair. I know I may never earn your friendship, or even just your respect, but I am asking you for one chance. One chance to prove to you that I'm not going to hurt Bella… or any of you. I love Bella, and I just want a shot at building something real with her."

"You'll destroy her," she said steadfast.

I sighed. "How could I ever destroy her when she has you to always protect her?"

"I am protecting her. This is how I protect her. By keeping scum like you far away."

"How do you know I'm scum? Not every man you cross paths with is bad."

"Even if you don't hurt her physically, you could do so much more damage to her heart," she retorted.

"You're right, I can," I admitted. "I can break her heart, but that's the risk everyone takes when they enter a relationship. That's the risk you took when you started dating Emma, right? Why is it okay for you to take that risk, but not Bella? You think you're protecting her, but all you're doing is keeping her from truly living."

"She doesn't need a man to live," she spat.

"No, no she doesn't, but she does need love. Everyone needs love."

"I allow Charlie to stay in her life for that very reason," she countered.

I nodded. "Yeah, and Charlie clearly loves her a lot, but what if Bella needs more."

"She doesn't need any such thing," she disagreed.

"Fine, forget needing romance, what if it's something she just really wants? Why is it okay for you and not her?"

"I'm stronger than she is."

"How do you know how much strength she is capable of if you don't give her a chance to use that strength?" I questioned.

She crossed her arms in a physical means of disagreement, but then she dropped them. "Fine."

"Fine?" I asked, unsure what that meant.

"I'll admit, you're persistent…which is more than I can say about anyone else that ever tried to date Bella in the past. You're right about one thing, I don't know you, and perhaps it's wrong to pre-judge. I'll tell you what, if you disappear and leave me the hell alone when I'm in control – let me live my life how I want to live it, and you don't fuck up and hurt Bella, I will back down too. I won't get in the way of you two, but that doesn't mean I accept you in any way shape or form. And if you do hurt Bella, I will furthermore keep her so wrapped up tight that no one will even get a chance to pursue her again. Plus, I'll have your dick cut off. I do know people. That goes for Emma too. If you even think to go after her again, it will be the last thing you ever do. You got me?"

I pressed my lips, and then nodded. "Yeah, I got it. Like I said before, I'm sorry for even threatening you with Emma. That's not me… or at least, it's not the me I ever want to be again. No matter what you do to me, or where this thing goes next, I will never go after Emma. You have my word."

"Good. Then we have an understanding."

"I think we do," I agreed.

"I'm still moving out. It's bad enough I have to sleep in a bed knowing Alice has messed around with random strangers in; the last thing I want is to actually know the face that goes along with the cum in the condom on the floor."

"Uh… okay," I said, having no idea how else to respond to that.

I fully planned to get my own apartment as soon as possible, but I wasn't going to argue with Rosalie anymore on the topic. The truth was, I had just had two very intense back to back conversations that I was initially terrified of, but they had both gone better than I could have anticipated, and I didn't want to continue arguing needlessly. Both Charlie and Rosalie understandably had their concerns about me, and for the time-being, I put their concerns to rest. I considered that a step forward on Bella's and my journey together. Whatever obstacles came next, I was confident we could handle them just as well…