A/N: Just another reminder that I do not have a lot of experience/knowledge on the criminal justice system or the proper way a situation like this would play out. This is fanfiction, so please don't lecture me on any inaccurate scenarios, okay?

Don't make me sad, don't make me cry. Sometimes love is not enough and the road gets tough, I don't know why. Keep making me laugh, let's go get high. The road is long, we carry on, try to have fun in the meantime. Come and take a walk on the wild side, let me kiss you hard in the pouring rain. You like your girls insane. ~ Lana Del Rey, Born To Die

BPOV

Savage began to take over my entire life from the moment Lawrence called and let me know I had the role. Training started a day later, and it was more intense than I realized it would be. Or maybe I had just forgotten how much work my job actually was. Fight scenes had to be coordinated, tracks had to be laid out, and I had to be in shape for working twelve to eighteen hour days. It was all expected, but a week into it and I was already exhausted.

Edward seemed on edge, too. My assumption was that Petrov had kicked up a fuss over the role, but I never asked him about it. I may be helping him on some level, but there were still things I didn't want to stick my nose in, things I knew Edward didn't want me involved in either.

I got to the training center early this morning. Edward was gone last night, doing something I didn't think I wanted to know about, but I got a text before I left that let me know he was alive.

The morning started out like every other, running through choreographed fight scenes and such, but around ten my phone started constantly beeping with incoming messages and calls. Eleazar, my trainer, went over and silenced it. Half an hour later, there was a constant vibration coming from my bag and neither of us could concentrate on anything.

"Make it stop before I throw it across the room," he said with a laugh.

Pulling out my phone, I saw message after message from Heidi, Claire, and Edward. I read Edward's first.

I'm taking care of it.

Don't be scared, please.

They can't press charges. This isn't like last time, I promise.

I'll meet you there. They won't hurt you.

What is happening? Nothing he was saying made any sense, but with each message I read I felt panic start to take over my body. Before I could move on to Heidi and Claire's messages, the door to the training room flew open.

"Nice to see you again, Isabella," Embry Call, the prosecutor who made my life a living hell, said as he walked in with a few cops behind him.

"W-what are you doing here?" I stuttered.

"We'd like to ask you a few questions on your relation to Aro Volturi. If you would please come with us," he said, reaching for my arm.

I backed away as quickly as I could, suddenly piecing together Edward's messages. They can't press charges. This isn't like last time. I'll meet you there.

Fuck. They're here to arrest me. "I'm not going with you," I said reflexively, my sense of self-preservation kicking in and overruling the logical part of my mind.

"You don't have a choice," Call said, taking another step toward me as I took one back. No, no, no.

Two cops were next to me then, one pulling my arms behind my back and slapping a pair of handcuffs around them. Instinctively, my wrists pulled at the bindings, hoping they would be able to free themselves.

This can't be happening.

I can't go back there.

I won't survive.

Dark…

Half an hour later I was sitting in an interrogation room. I was pretty sure it was the same one I was taken to years ago, but I couldn't remember even walking in here. My mind blacked out a little bit.

They left me alone for the time being, but my hands were still cuffed together. They were attached to a small hook in the middle of the table. It was completely unnecessary, but I knew they were probably doing everything they could to scare me. It took everything I had not to let it get to me, at least not yet. I would not give them the satisfaction of seeing me cry.

They wanted to talk about my relation to Aro. Had Felix and Demetri found out I was Aro's daughter? Did they go to the police, demand they try and pin me with something else? They couldn't try me with his murder again, that much I knew. It was the only bit of relief I had. There were plenty of other things they could get me on, but nothing as big as murder.

Edward obviously saw this coming, based on the messages I had gotten. What were Heidi and Claire's messages about, then? Why had everyone been trying to get to me all morning?

My head was starting to spin with all of the unanswered questions when the door opened. Call, Jenks, and Edward all walked in. Call looked frustrated, Jenks looked annoyed, and Edward looked furious.

"Get the fucking cuffs off of her," he said, taking a seat next to me.

"We have the right to restrain anyone we think could be a risk," Call replied.

Edward huffed, and pulled out a small black bag. He reached over me, a few small tools in his hands, and quickly released my wrists. His hands quickly covered mine, making the shaking stop. Huh. I didn't even realize I was shaking.

Suddenly, I was freezing. Since I had been training, I was only in a tank top and some leggings, and this interrogation room was so cold. A shiver went down my spine, from the cold or fear I didn't know, but then Edward's suit coat was draped over my shoulders.

"Mrs. Cullen, Charles Swan has gone on record saying you told him Aro Volturi was your biological father, months before you testified that you had no personal relation to him. Is this true?" Call asked as everyone took their seats around the table.

"W-what?" Charlie went to the cops? I had a vague recollection of fighting with him the one time he came to see me while I was incarcerated. Why would he come forward now, years after the trial was over?

"In a book released this morning, Renee Swan says Charles Swan told her you admitted Aro Volturi was your biological father during one of your visits with him."

"What is this, high school? She said, he said, she said?" Edward grumbled.

"It's all hearsay, Call. You have no real evidence," Jenks said, frustration evident in his voice.

"We can request a simple DNA test – "

"That won't prove if my client knew prior to the trial."

"We can drag you all through another trial, charge her with perjury and put her behind bars for at least two years."

Fuck. A strangled gasp escaped before I could do anything to stop it. "Over a fucking book?"

"If he was willing to tell his wife, I'm sure Charles Swan would be willing to testify in court."

No, no, no.

"You have a choice, Call. You can either try, and fail, to put someone as harmless as my wife behind bars, or I can help you shut down the sex trafficking ring you've been tracking for the last year. Your choice," Edward said.

"How do you know about that?" Call asked, a mixture of angry and confused.

"I know everything that happens in this city," Edward told him. He didn't wait for a reply, gently grabbing my arm and pulling me up. He had to practically drag me out of there, my legs were like jello and my entire body seemed numb.

How could this be happening? How could Charlie have done that? We didn't have a good relationship, but it wasn't horrible either. We wrote letters from time to time, checking in on each other. I didn't think he hated me enough to try and get me thrown behind bars.

It was expected from Renee, the last time I saw her was when she admitted I wasn't her biological daughter so long ago. She had no loyalty or commitment toward me. Did she write a book? An expose about my life?

Silent tears fell down my face as Edward sped home. He kept one hand in my lap, which I kept between both of mine. My entire body felt out of control. My nerves seemed shot, and my head was spinning. Edward was talking, I think, but processing his words was impossible.

The car stopped and I realized we were already home. Edward gave my hands a gentle squeeze before he got out of the car. When he opened my door and I made no move to get out, he knelt next to me.

"Don't shut down, Bella," he whispered to me.

When I looked over at him and saw him staring at me, I finally broke down. Uncontrollable sobs escaped me as Edward pulled me out of the car. I was tired and scared and a million other things that my mind didn't have enough room to process.

Resting my head on Edward's shoulder as he carried me inside, I tried to control my breathing. I felt his chest move with every breath he took and tried to match it. I was a little calmer by the time Edward set me down on a chair in our room.

"I need you to listen to me, okay?" he said, kneeling in front of me with my face cradled in his hands. "They can't touch you. You're not going anywhere, okay?"

"But –"

"No buts. The sex trafficking ring is far more important than a perjury charge. Do you trust me?"

With my life. "Of course."

"Then, please, don't spend another second worrying about this." Edward peppered kisses along my cheeks, nose, and temple.

If Edward wasn't running, this had to be different from last time, I had to keep that in mind. It wasn't that he ran at the first sight of danger, quite the opposite really, but he ran at the first sight that I was in danger. There was a big difference.

"What's the book?"

Edward's calmness faded into complete anger. "Renee and Jane wrote a book. About you and your life. It's complete bullshit. I got ahold of it early this morning, nearly everything from the moment you left Forks the last time is false."

Sighing, I let my head fall back against the chair. I was exhausted, but it was only the late afternoon. It had been just a few hours ago that I was training with Eleazar, and everything was normal.

The sound of the front door slamming made me jump.

"It's okay, it's just Emmett and Jasper."

Relaxing back into the chair, I looked over at Edward. "This is not how I thought today was going to go."

"I'm sorry I couldn't get to you before them."

"It's okay," I said, leaning up and placing a soft kiss to his cheek. All I wanted now was to shower off the all too familiar stench of the Chicago Police Department off of me and get into bed. "You can go talk with Emmett and Jasper, I'll be fine."

Edward frowned. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," I said, sliding out of the chair. Edward squeezed my hand as I passed him on my way to the shower, and he made his way to his office. I took my time in the shower, letting the warm water help wash away all of the shit that happened today.

I got dressed in a pair of cotton shorts and one of Edward's t-shirts, but the empty bed didn't look inviting at all. Grabbing my phone, some headphones, and a blanket I went down to Edward's office.

The door was open, but I knocked on the frame anyway. Three pairs of eyes shot to me. Emmett and Jasper looked at me with pity-eyes that I was all too used to, and Edward looked ready to kick everyone out and do whatever I asked him to.

"Can I sleep on your couch? I won't listen," I held up my earphones.

An odd smile covered Edward's face as he nodded "Of course."

I bypassed Emmett and Jasper and got myself comfortable on the couch. I put my headphones in, selecting the classical playlist Edward made me years ago. Just as I was about to lie down, Edward sat next to me, situating a pillow in his lap. He kept talking to Emmett and Jasper but let me lie with my head in his lap. I fell asleep with his thumb gently rubbing the space right between my eyes.

Dark…

After my sudden questioning by the police, our quiet, peaceful bubble had officially popped. I saw Edward less and less because he was constantly working. Going back to training seemed wrong, but I had signed a contract and had to stick to it. Logically, I knew my taking the part in the movie wasn't what cause this whole issue, but I hated that I was about to leave Edward behind.

Not that I was much help with the current situation, but still. Things were always so much worse when we were apart. Now, in a few weeks I'll be gone for four months.

The more I thought about the whole situation, the more angry I got. There were so many different things to worry about now that the rumor that I was Aro Volturi's daughter was out there. Did Felix and Demetri believe it? Would they try to do something about it? What were Charlie, Renee, and Jane doing? It was obvious they didn't care one bit about what happened to me anymore, but you would think spending seventeen years with them would have given me their respect at the very least.

My first instinct was to fly up to Forks and talk to them myself, but I couldn't afford to be distracted right now. I would focus on my job and talk to them in a few months when I had time.

There was still this nagging voice in my head that told me I should be terrified of the Chicago Police Department. I hadn't been contacted by anyone since my short questioning, but I assumed Edward was making a deal on my behalf. I was too scared to ask him about it.

The only good thing about the timing was I took out all of my aggression toward everything out on my training. Eleazar had nothing but good things to say about my progress.

It had been two weeks since the incident, and it seemed like I only saw my husband in passing. Sometimes he would just be getting in when I was leaving in the morning. If I was lucky, I got a small peck before he collapsed in bed for a few hours. Other times I would get home and he would be in his office, but the door was always closed. Never had Edward felt he had to close his office door before, but it was like a punch in the gut every time I walked past and could hear him in there.

He was upset with me, he had to be. I fucked up again, telling Charlie about Aro and causing another police investigation. In all honesty, I only vaguely remembered my conversation with Charlie from so long ago, but I did remember blurting out that Aro attacked me because he was my father, not because Edward was my husband.

So, now, Edward hardly even looked at me. He didn't talk to me, rarely checked up on me, and hadn't touched me in two weeks. I couldn't remember the last time he went two weeks without touching me that wasn't due to hundreds of miles between us.

My training session got cut early today, so I called Alice and Rosalie and asked them to meet me for dinner. My first instinct was to call Edward, but I couldn't handle him rejecting me off.

We met at one of Jasper's restaurants downtown, and I enjoyed the distraction of them talking about pregnancy hormones for a while.

"Are you okay, Bella? You're awfully quiet," Rosalie asked about halfway through our dinner.

Rarely, if ever, did I ask others for relationship advice. I had never been insecure in my life with Edward. He loved me, I loved him, and we always made it work. I was completely lost right now, though.

"I could use some advice," I admitted. "When… What's the longest you guys have gone without sex? You know, without external factors like distance or anything like that."

"You and Edward aren't having sex?" they both asked simultaneously. Shouldn't have asked. Shouldn't have asked.

"Not in fifteen days," I confessed.

"Did something happen?"

"I think he might be mad at me," I told them. I was pretty sure neither of them knew about my recent questioning, and I didn't want them to know if they weren't supposed to.

"Why?"

"I can't tell you the specifics."

"Hm, well Jasper has been exceptionally busy and distracted the last few weeks," Alice said.

"Emmett has been stressed as well, it always comes and goes. I'm sure Edward is just busy working, Bella."

I tried to take comfort in their words, really tried. But, I knew it wasn't just that Edward was stressed. He was always stressed about something, but he never ignored me. Even when we were in Ireland, on our vacation after my shooting when I thought he hated me, he didn't ignore me. He cooked me breakfast and still talked to me.

"Yeah, he's probably just stressed," I reluctantly agreed.

When I got home I noticed Edward's car in the garage. Walking upstairs, his office door was closed and I could hear him talking inside. I slowly walked past the door and shut myself in our bedroom.

I showered, hoping to distract myself from the whole situation, but it simply gave me more time to think about the whole thing. Was Edward… bored with me, with our sex life? When I got out, standing in the middle of the room wrapped in a towel, I made a snap decision. I pulled on a dark blue silk chemise and made my way to Edward's office.

Ignoring the closed door, I walked inside despite hearing Edward talking. He was on the phone, leaning on his desk pinching the bridge of his nose. He did look stressed. Edward sat up when he heard me, nodding in my direction. It wasn't anything more than an acknowledgement of my presence, probably hoping that he could get rid of me quickly.

He sat up and back in his chair, leaving me just enough room to squeeze between him and the desk and get in his lap. I felt him sigh, but I didn't know if it was out of contentment or frustration. Settling myself in his lap, I rested my arms on his shoulders and started peppering kisses along his neck.

All the while, Edward still had the phone pressed to his ear. When I sucked on the skin of his neck he groaned and I thought I had won him over. Then, phone still in hand, he stood up and set me back on my feet.

"Not now, Bella," he told me, sitting back down at his desk and returning to his call.

Embarrassment flooded my entire being, and I barely made it back to our bedroom before tears started falling down my cheeks. I quickly wiped them away, not wanting to seem so sensitive.

From the beginning, I knew Edward wasn't going to be the average husband. He worked long, odd hours and did things I didn't want to know anything about. But, being with him was never a hardship. He always went above and beyond to make sure I was his first priority. For the first time since I had met him, I didn't feel like I was anymore.

Maybe it was selfish of me to want to always be his number one priority. Was it healthy for us to constantly put each other first above everything else? Did other couples have more of a balance?

There was one question in the back of my mind that I wanted to ask desperately, but at the same time didn't want to know the answer to at all.

After half an hour of worrying, Edward came in to find me sitting at the foot of our bed, my feet tucked under me. Thankfully, I was confident all evidence of my tears was long gone. Don't ask questions you don't want the answer to.

Edward gave me a quick peck as he walked past me, toward the closet. "I'll be back in a few hours," he said, coming back out with a new tie around his neck. Don't ask questions you don't want the answer to.

Edward was just about to the door when I stopped him. "Edward?" Don't ask questions you don't want the answer to.

He turned around immediately at the sound of my voice. I just looked at him for a moment, his rusty hair a mess on top of his head, and his mossy eyes staring at me, waiting for me to let him go.

The problem was, I could never let him go. That's why I needed to know.

"Are you sleeping with someone else?" I whispered, forcing myself not to vomit as the words left my mouth. Just the mental image in my head of my husband choosing to do anything with another woman made me furious and devastated, completely defeated.

I didn't have the strength to look at his face as I asked, so I focused on my fingers in my lap, tugging at the edge of the chemise covering my thighs.

"W-what?" he asked, and I heard his footsteps as he walked back toward me. Still, I didn't have the courage to look him in the eyes.

"I don't think that you've ever not wanted to have sex in all of the time we've been together. You don't talk to me anymore, and we don't spend time together like we used to. I keep fucking everything up. It's only been two weeks but I just can't –"

Warm, insistent lips stopped my rant. They were passionate and hard and perfect. "Please, please, don't ever think that I could choose anyone else over you. No one could compare to you, Isabella."

I wrapped my arms around Edward's neck, holding him as close as I could. He stood to his full height, taking me with him. My legs wrapped around his waist to steady myself, and I reveled in the tightness of Edward's arms around me.

The sudden serenity came to a quick end when we both felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

"I have to go, but I'll only be gone a couple hours. Get some sleep, but I will be waking you up so we can talk about this when I get home," Edward told me, walking me over to my side of the bed, and tucking me under the covers. With a hand cupping my cheek and his forehead resting against mine, he whispered, "There will never be anyone else, Bella."

Falling back into bed, I repeated his words over and over in my head until I fell asleep. It was never a complete, fulfilling sleep. I tossed and turned until I heard the front door slam shut hours later. I waited in bed for a few minutes, thinking Edward would come find me like he said he would. Ten minutes later, when there was no sound of him even coming upstairs, I got out of bed. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes I stumbled downstairs, confused by the whispered shouts I could hear from the living room.

"I swear, if either of you wake up Bella I'll put a bullet in you myself," I heard Edward grunt. His voice sounded oddly strained.

Rounding the corner to the living room, I saw him sitting on the couch, shirtless, with Jasper kneeling next to him and Emmett walking in from the kitchen holding a first aid kit.

"Shit," Emmett said, freezing when he saw me. Edward and Jasper's heads popped up, looking back at me. I took a step forward.

"No!" everyone shouted at me. It was Edward's wince when he pivoted toward me that had me ignoring their request.

I got to the back of the couch and a wave a nausea rolled through my stomach at the sight of blood. Not a few splatters like I had seen before. Fresh blood, slowly dripping down Edward's side.

"Oh, God," I muttered, stumbling around the couch to stand in front of him. "You're shot," I said dumbly, frozen in place.

"I'm fine, Bella," Edward told me.

"You're not fucking fine, you're bleeding all over the goddamn couch!" I shouted, flailing my arms in front of me like a madwoman.

"I'll replace the couch."

"I don't care about the fucking couch!"

Emmett approached then, holding out a few strips of gauze. Jasper took them from him, and quickly covered up the wound on Edward's side. I hadn't gotten a good look at it, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to.

Before I could run upstairs to change into something more suitable for a hospital, Jasper pulled out a suture kit from the box of first aid supplies.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" I growled, taking a step closer.

"He needs stitches," Jasper said, focusing on the supplies in his hands.

"Yes, from a medical professional. We have to take him to a hospital!"

"Hospitals have to report all gunshot wounds to the police. I'm not going to a hospital," Edward said, wincing as Jasper removed the blood-stained gauze.

Reaching over Edward, I gripped Jasper's arm with as much force as I had. Considering I had been working out nearly non-stop the last month, it was enough to get his arm to freeze. "Stop."

"Bella – "

"No. You have a bullet in you. Can't you at least call Dr. Banner to come here?" It was mind blowing to me that everyone in this room was so calm. It felt like my heart was about to explode in my chest as Jasper told Edward to hold a fresh patch of gauze over his side.

"He's out of town. Jasper's done this before, and the bullet isn't still there. It's just a graze," Edward said softly. He reached over toward me and pulled me on the couch next to him. "I'm going to lift up the gauze and you're going to see it really isn't more than a graze. Then, will you let Jasper stitch it up?"

Reluctantly, I let Edward remove the bandage. Thankfully, there was less blood soaked through this one than the last one. I carefully leaned over him, making sure not to touch him anywhere.

It really didn't look as gruesome as I thought it would. It was a big wound and I could see why it needed stitches, but it wasn't a gaping bullet wound that I imagined it to be. Still, the sight of Edward's mangled flesh covered in dried blood made me sick to my stomach.

I sat up on my knees next to Edward and grabbed his hand in mine. There was no doubt in my mind that he squeezed my hand because I needed it, and not because he did. "Okay," I told Jasper. "Don't fuck it up."

I stayed in my spot right next to Edward while Jasper worked. In my mind, I tried to come up with some rational excuse for dropping out of the movie. Our life had been so calm before. Never did I have to worry about Edward losing interest in me and I never had to watch a bullet wound get stitched up in our living room.

Now, everything seemed to be falling apart. The book Renee and Jane released was the catalyst. They got me arrested again, forced us to make a deal with the cops. It wouldn't surprise me if this shot was a result of some fallout from that.

It was a horrible time for me to have to leave town. The one comfort I had was Edward's word to me before he left earlier tonight. At least I knew, no matter what happened, he would always be mine. Just like I was always his.

A/N: Apologies for the long-ish wait. My anxiety has been a bitch lately. Usually writing helps with it, but sometimes it's just too distracting to focus.

Also, there have been a few questions about whether we'll get a HEA for this story. It's gonna be a bumpy ride, but I assure you all that we'll get a happy ending for these two. See ya next time!