Chapter 4

TW: This chapter does involve discussion of child abuse (non-graphic)

"Isabella!" Momma snaps her fingers and I realize I'm daydreaming out of the shop window. People pass outside, raking in the sunshine while I'm stuck in this store trying on dress after dress.

"Sorry, Momma." I turn my gaze to the mirror. The beads on the bust of the deep purple gown sparkle in the lights.

"Not good enough. Your gown speaks volumes, Isabella. What do we want to say?"

I resist the urge to shrug.

"I am a winner," she answers her own question.

I try on three more dresses before she decides on one. I don't really like it. But I knew the moment I stepped out and her eyes lit up that it was the one.

The manager rings us up and packs up my dress into a bag.

"Should we grab lunch?" Momma asks, holding the door open for me as we leave.

"Sure."

We walk a block down and across the street, I spot Edward and Dr. Cullen walking out of the offices of Weber and Weber, Angela's dad and the best lawyer in town. I nearly didn't recognize him in his jacket and tie, it's a far cry from the greasy jeans and the pushed up sleeves of a faded plaid shirt.

I instinctively step off the curb and cross the street to meet him. Momma is a few steps ahead of me, so she doesn't realize I'm not behind her until I'm standing in front of him.

"Edward!" I call.

"Bella." He runs his fingers through his hair, obviously irritated. He loosens the tie around his neck a little.

"Miss Swan." Dr. Cullen smiles and waves at Momma as she finally follows me across the street. "Renee."

"Dr. Cullen. Pleasure to see you." Momma doesn't address Edward. At all.

"You as well, doing some shopping?" Dr. Cullen gestures toward my bag.

"Yes. Picked out a dress for the pageant," I answer.

"Ah, yes, the pageant. Rosie just picked out hers yesterday. I'm sure it's lovely."

The silence that follows swallows me. I look at Edward, but he's not looking at me or anything. His eyes are at the ground.

"Well. We should be going. Enjoy the rest of your afternoon, ladies." Dr. Cullen nods and starts toward his car. "Edward?"

Edward pauses for a second, his small act of rebellion, and then follows without another word.

"Isabella?" Momma ushers me along toward the cafe. I follow, looking back for only a moment. When I do, I see Edward and Dr. Cullen arguing inside their car.

"Terrible boy," Momma says.

"What?" I turn back to her as we walk into the cafe.

"That boy. He's been nothing but trouble for the Cullens since they took him in." She slides into a seat at the table right at the window. "I'm surprised they haven't gotten rid of him by now."

My heart stings when she says that. Like he's a piece of trash to be thrown away.

"You're judging him," I say. "And you don't even know him." I reluctantly sit across from her.

"I don't want to know him." She begins to unroll her napkin and places it in her lap as she arranges her utensils on the table top. "You know he was arrested for assault, Isabella? He's no good, that's for sure. I can't believe they're even letting him work around you all for the pageant." She flips on a smile as the waitress approaches. "Iced tea with three ice cubes and two lemon slices."

"Can I get you something to drink?" She asks me.

"Just water, please. Thank you." I sigh and look out the window just in time to see the Cullen's car drive by. Edward glances my direction as they pass and I see so much sadness in his eyes that I nearly cry myself.

When we get home, I go upstairs and hang up my dress, but I can't get Edward off my mind.

Without another thought, I pack a small bag and meet my mom in the foyer.

"I'm going to stay at Dad's tonight," I say, reaching for the doorknob.

"Don't be silly, we've got things to work on." She laughs, but not out of humor. It's dripping thick with disdain.

"I already promised him I would," I lie.

She narrows her eyes at me with a stare that usually makes me cower.

"I'm going," I say.

She doesn't argue when I open the door. "Practice, please."

"Yes, ma'am." I pull the door closed behind me and hop in the car.

My dad is surprised when I pull into his driveway. He's out front mowing the lawn, even though it looks like it could rain at any minute.

"Bells?" He pulls the mower into the shed. "Did I forget you were coming? Come in here kiddo." He holds out his arm and I hug him. He smells like grass.

"No, you didn't. I just decided to come. Hope that's okay?"

"Always okay." He smiles.

We watch the Mariners and eat dinner just as the rain starts. As I do the dishes, my eyes drift across the yard to the Cullen house. The window at the peak of the top floor is lit and open. Inside, I see Edward's shape pacing back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.

Was what Momma said about him really true? Assault? That doesn't seem like him.

You don't know him, Bella. I pause and dry my hands.

I grab my jacket, pull my hood up over my head, and step outside while Dad snores in the recliner. The raindrops are plump and fat, smacking against me like pellets.

When I knock at the Cullen's front door, I don't know exactly what I'm going to say.

Mrs. Cullen answers the door and smiles. "Isabella!"

"Hi, Mrs. Cullen," I say.

"Esme, please. Come in." She steps aside and I walk in.

I've never seen the inside of their house. It's nice, but modest.

"Rosie will be happy you stopped by, I'm sure you have pageant fun to discuss, let me go get her." She starts toward the staircase in front of us.

"Oh, Mrs. Cullen…" I raise my hand. "Sorry, Esme. I'm actually here to see Edward." I glance up, where I know his room is, where he's probably still pacing back and forth.

"Oh?" She cocks her eyebrow. "I don't think he's feeling well, honey. Maybe another time?"

"Oh." I look down at my feet. "Maybe just for a minute? He's lending me...a book?"

"I see." Her smile returns. "Okay. Just for a minute. Up the two flights of stairs, only door at the top."

"Thank you." I take off my shoes so I don't track in any mud and start up.

On the second landing, I see a slice of Rosalie through a cracked door. She's sitting on her bed looking up at what must be her dress. And she's smiling like I've never seen her.

I blush, intruding on a private moment, and continue up the stairs.

I hear the music grow louder with each step up the second staircase. His door is closed, but I can see the line of light from under.

Don't be a coward, I tell myself as I hover outside of his door.

I raise my hand and knock twice.

"What do you want?" He asks.

The words get stuck in my throat. Why am I so nervous? Because my friends humiliated him the other night. Because my mom judged him today, even though he doesn't know about that one.

"I said," the door whips open, "what do you want?"

His expression softens when he sees it's me.

"Hi."

"Hi." He runs his fingers through his hair. "Uh. What are you doing here?"

"I...don't really know."

He steps aside and allows me in, closing the door behind me. The entire room is lit by a single lamp in the corner. His bed is pushed up against one wall, with a desk opposite and books and papers strewn around.

He leans against his desk, turns down his music just a bit, and crosses his arms, in a "Well, what now" kind of way.

"Why..." I pause. "Why do people…" I can't even say it.

"Why do people hate me?" He completes my thought.

I nod.

"Because people need someone to be the bad guy and tag I'm it."

"I just don't understand." I think back to all that I know about Edward, and everything I know comes from other people. They painted him this way. "My mother, this town...my friends." I put him in the line of fire by inviting him to that party. "I'm sorry I invited you to Mike's."

"You're sorry you invited me?" He cocks his eyebrow as thunder claps outside. "Sorry for the inconvenience."

"I don't mean it like that. I just mean...if I wouldn't have invited you that wouldn't have happened."

"What did you expect would happen, Bella?" He asks, sharper than I was expecting. "Did you think we were all going to get together and sing Kumbyah?!"

"No," I snap back, taking a step forward. "Why did you even come then?!" My whole body radiates heat.

"It was obviously a mistake." He turns to his desk and rifles through some of his papers. "Anything else?"

Tears burn my eyes. "Guess not."

I turn on my heel and march out of his room and back downstairs. As soon as I hit the landing below, I catch Rosalie coming out of the bathroom.

"What are you doing in my house?" She asks, glancing behind me up at Edward's bedroom door. "He's in a mood, I hope you took a shield up there with you."

"Yeah, thanks for the warning." I wipe my eyes, force a smile, and continue downstairs. I mumble a quick goodbye to Esme and step outside into the pouring rain.

I allow my hair, my clothes, my everything to get soaked on the short walk back to my dad's house. When I get inside, I kick off my shoes and head upstairs, leaving a trail of water droplets in my wake.

I go directly into the bathroom and, still clothed, lay in the bathtub.

What the fuck just happened?

I lay there for awhile before stripping down, piling my clothes in the corner, and taking a hot shower. When I'm done, I crawl into bed, hair wet and tangled, and try to fall asleep against the noise of the rain pelting my window.

I fall asleep at some point, because the next thing I know, I'm waking up to the sound of knocking at my window.

I freeze and hold my breath. Someone's breaking in.

But wait, why would they knock?

I sit up and turn toward the window. A shadow of a person is crouched out on the roof. And then the shadow waves to me.

I roll out of bed and cautiously cross the floor until I can see his face.

I cross my arms and stare at him. I hope he's cold and wet and uncomfortable.

"Please, Bella," Edward says, barely audible over the rain and the thunder.

I reluctantly open my window and he hops in.

"My dad will kill you if he finds you in here, you know," I say.

"I'll take my chances." He glances behind him. "It's really raining out there."

"Uh-huh." I realize at that point that I'm not wearing any pants. I quickly grab my blanket and wrap it around myself. "What do you want?"

"I want to tell you the truth."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Because I feel like you'll actually listen."

I flip on the lamp beside my bed and sit.

"Okay," I say. "Where do you want to start?"

"With this." He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a folded up photo. When he hands it to me, I realize it's him with a little boy who looked to be about ten or so. And Edward is glowing.

"Who's this?" I ask, handing the photo back to him.

"That's my brother, Ben. Well, half brother." He sits on my desk chair.

"Wow, I didn't know you had any blood siblings."

"Neither did I," he says, smiling. "Until about three years ago." He leans forward and perches his elbows on his knees. "See my mom and dad split up when I was really little. My dad left, so my mom was raising me on her own. When my mom died, they tried to get in touch with him to take me in, but they never could and so I went into the system and the Cullens took me in."

"So, how did you find out about Ben?"

"He wrote me a letter." He smirks. "Apparently my sperm donor told him about me. The kid is a whiz at computers and he managed to track me down."

"So, your dad…"

"Is a piece of shit," he interrupts, "But more on that later."

I scoot to the edge of my bed.

"So, Ben sends me a letter, right? First thought is holy shit I have a brother. Second thought is, how much did my dad really know about where I was and who I was with now?"

"I'm sorry, that must have been tough."

"I mourned the loss of my dad my entire childhood. He was dead to me the moment he walked out the door. But...this kid, Bella. He's amazing." He looks like he's about to burst. "He's smart and funny and a complete wise-ass."

"Wonder where he got that from?" I joke.

"Yeah." His smile fades. "So, when he calls me in the middle of the night screaming and crying that our dad is beating up on him, I go."

"You go?"

"I left without telling anybody. Right then. And when my bike broke down an hour outside of town, I borrowed someone's car."

I don't question his use of the word borrowed. Not at this point.

"And I drive to their house, because it's only a five hour drive from here. And I find Ben in his bedroom, huddled up on his bed that was soaked with piss because he was too scared to get up and go to the bathroom." He chokes up a bit. "And a switch flips in me, and I'm telling you, Bella, I couldn't help it. I snapped."

I instinctively reach out and rest a caring hand on his knee.

"I found our sorry excuse for a father passed out drunk on the couch. And I just...start hitting him."

"Oh, God," I whisper.

"I beat him so bad he's unconscious, like for real. I grab Ben and we high tail it out of there. We barely made it past the city limits before the cops pulled us over for the stolen vehicle."

"So, what happened?"

"My father ended up in the ICU, but he survived. Ben told them what happened and now he lives with his aunt just an hour away. And because I was considered a troublemaker and the system is fucked, I had to plead down from kidnapping and stealing the car to an assault charge."

"But that's not fair." I pushed away a tear rolling down my cheek. "You were just protecting him."

"Bella, the world sees you how they want to see you. I'm a juvenile delinquent. You're the prom queen prep."

"It doesn't have to be that way."

"But it is. And your mom and your friends, they'll say all kinds of shit about me. Some of it's real and some of it is bullshit. But does it really matter?"

I grab his hand and nod. "It matters. It matters to me."

A/N: Our bad boy Edward has a heart of gold. Is anyone surprised?

Thank you for reading!