Hey guys!
Thanks to my poor time management skills, these are unbetad. I did have people much smarter than me look over them before being posted, but any mistakes are all on me!

All my love to Jill, Ariel and Pearly for prereading, and Fran for putting up with my messy shit!


My father sits at his old oak desk with his fingers steepled in front of him, spinning slowly side-to-side. I have seen this exact stance many times growing up, some even in this very room.

He is not happy with me, but he still wants to help.

Small favors, right?

"And you didn't tell Aro about how dicey things had gotten?" He asks me this as if he's drawing up a contract. All business. That part isn't like him, but I am in danger of flushing my whole career-the one he helped me acquire-down the drain so I can't really blame him for being a little short with me.

"No. I was going to but—"

"But she was in danger and you care about her."

I nod because honestly, what's the point in denying it at this stage of the game?

"Jesus, son," he sighs, leaning to rest his elbows on his desk and rubbing his temples. "You know this is all your mother and I wanted; for you to finally find someone you love, but—"

"Whoa, Dad, I don't know about all this love shit," I rush to correct him, receiving a piercing look from his blue eyes. The same ones that were always killer in interrogations because they hypnotized the truth out of the subject. It wasn't even in his job descriptions to question suspects, but they always called him in for it because of those goddamn voodoo eyes.

"You spent over three hours at her bar, Edward. When have you done that for anyone? Even someone in your family."

"Never…" I offer sheepishly, burying my fingers in my hair as I lean my elbow on one knee.

"Right. Which means you, at the very least, have romantic feelings for someone...So why did it have to be with a case?"

"As if I'm not asking myself the same thing."

"If you're going after her, you need to drop the case. For real this time. Aro will make sure she's protected. I can't in good conscience keep this from him, so either you tell him or I do. You won't be in any trouble as long as you come clean now, before anything worse can happen."

I nod along, but I don't like what he's saying. He's right that I can't follow her case anymore, but I also can't date her. I can't start a relationship like that. We'd be building something on lies, and it would only end in heartbreak for both of us.

No, it's going to hurt, but it's time to cut Bella out of my life before she ruins everything. Actually, before I ruin everything. More than I already have.

It's been real, Miss Swan.