23

"Mommy!" Charlie wailed, throwing open the kitchen door and flinging herself against Bella, who was standing at the sink, washing dishes.

"Charlie, get off me," Bella groused, gently pushing her daughter off her. "You have got to stop screaming and running in this house, before you get hurt."

"I want to go outside!" Charlie screamed, throwing herself onto the floor, her legs and arms flailing in every direction.

"You can't," she snarled, kneeling down and grabbing her arms, pulling her upward so she was sitting. "It's raining."

"It's not fair," Charlie cried.

Bella sighed and shifted so that she was sitting on the floor with her daughter in her arms. "I know, sweetheart. I'm sorry."

The door to the kitchen opened and Bella's parents came into the kitchen, both of them frowning as they spotted the two of them on the floor. The tension between Bella, Renee, and Charlie had been intense. She knew they didn't blame her for the hell she went through, or she hoped they didn't, but they would never understand why she hid from them for so long. How could they when they didn't know — really know — just how dangerous Marcus was?

"Everything okay?" Renee asked, tilting her head toward her and the little girl sobbing softly.

"No," Bella admitted, scrambling to her feet while keeping Charlie in her arms. "I'm sorry. I know it's been hard with us here."

"It hasn't," Renee lied.

She scoffed, tightening her hold on Charlie, who had shifted from sobbing to whimpering against her neck. "Yes, it has."

"We just . . ." Her father trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck before saying, "We've missed so much of her life. Her first steps, words, birthday. We would give anything to have those moments back."

Tears flooded Bella's eyes. "Me, too."

Realizing Charlie had fallen asleep, Bella gave her parents a soft smile and carried the little girl past them, through the living room, and upstairs, laying her in the bed. She tucked the blanket around her and walked out of the bedroom, finding Alice sitting against the wall across from her bedroom.

"They were selling me," Alice whimpered, wrapping her arms around her legs. "Marcus knew I was your weakest link, knew that if he sent me away, you'd do anything he wanted. They had found a man in Japan who wanted to buy me. Jasper and I knew we had to make our move. I didn't want to leave without you, though. But when they stormed the compound, I lost you in the crowd. Jasper managed to get me out, said Edward had sworn that he would get you, too. Three days passed before Edward came back, said you'd been shot, that Marcus killed you. I didn't believe him, though. The world just didn't make sense without you in it."

"I didn't want to lie to you, Al," Bella whispered, sitting on the floor across from her. "You've been my best friend my entire life, my little sister even. But I had to protect her."

"I would have protected her, too," Alice cried. "I needed you, B. I fucking needed you."

"I'm sorry, Al. I'm so fucking sorry," Bella sobbed, crawling across the hall and wrapping her arms around her best friend.

Not having Alice in her life for the last six years had been harder than Bella had expected. She had been her rock through endless days of Hell. As long as they had each other, they knew they could survive anything. And Bella had abandoned her. She wasn't the friend Alice deserved, or the mother Charlie needed. She hurt everyone in her life because she had been stupid.