HI GUYS! Another Tuesday, which means it is time for a new chapter. I am really excited about this one, I have been waiting a long to post this, so I hope you all enjoy it.

Without Further Ado...


Chapter 15

(BPOV)

As life continued, I was still indecisive. I wasn't sure whether or not to take Zafrina's suggestion and reach out to my parents, so I was still struggling with that. But that wasn't what was currently leaving me so befuddled.

It was Edward.

It was June and as the month was coming to an end I noticed Edward becoming more and more reserved. I mean, I could take the crown for biggest introvert but in the last week, Edward could give me a run for my money.

He wasn't his usual chatty-self. Our talkative dinners had grown quiet, to the point where I would try to start a conversation just to initiate some noise between us. But, any question or discussion I attempted with Edward was only met with a one or two-word response or simple nod or shake of the head.

"How was work today?" I'd ask.

"Fine."

"Anything new?"

Head shake.

"How's your sister and Jasper?"

"They're okay."

Our interactions continued like that for several days and it started to worry me, especially with Isaac. Whenever Edward was around Isaac, he would usually give my son his full attention; Playing with him, talking with him, and teaching him. But now he would barely say "hi" to Isaac before he would retreat into his room. He would only come down to either take Maggie for a walk or to grab a beer or something from the fridge and then it was right back to his room. And I couldn't understand why.

Part of me wanted to talk to him about his sudden behavioral change, but the other part of me didn't; Out of fear as to what his explanation might be. I was terrified that my biggest fear had become a reality.

Edward had finally grown tired of me and Isaac in his house and he wanted us out.

I knew eventually that I would move Isaac and myself into a new apartment, I was just hoping I would do so before I had worn out my welcome with Edward. But given his recent state, I was afraid that time had come sooner than anticipated. I was hoping I was wrong and this was only a temporary change and he would eventually go back to being the fun and social man I had grown to care for and appreciate.

However, all my fears came to fruition the following Thursday. Edward had been in a dreary mood for over a week now, so I thought I could change it by doing something nice for him. I called his mom and asked about what type of meals Edward enjoyed growing up.

"He was always a sucker for my meatloaf," Esme told me. "No matter what he had going on that day, if he knew I was cooking meatloaf, he would make sure to be home in time."

I was able to get his mother to give me her recipe and I quickly got to cooking. Along with the meatloaf, I prepared garlic mashed potatoes, and seasoned broccoli, all things I knew Edward would love. I was even able to procure a nice bottle of red wine for us to share. I was fairly confident and was sure this would put Edward in a good mood. Or if anything, a better mood than he's been in. I was in the middle of preparing Isaac's dinner of chicken nuggets and green beans when I heard Edward walk into the house. He ended up taking Maggie to the dog park for a couple of hours. When he entered the kitchen, I anticipated him to look surprised and happy.

Instead, he just looked pissed off and discontent.

"What's this?" He asked sourly.

I was hesitant to answer, "I thought I'd make us a nice dinner."

Edward just shook his. "I'm not hungry. I'm just gonna take a shower and head to bed Bella."

He then turned, trying to make his leave from the kitchen. But I was having it, I quickly grabbed for his arm to try and get him to engage with me for the first time in nearly a week.

"Edward please," I begged. He just pulled his arm from my grasp, not even looking in my direction.

"No Bella," I heard him say. "I just want to be left alone, can't you get that?" Sounding very annoyed with me now. I just let my hand fall to my side while I stared at him heading up the stairs at the end of the hall. His door closed a little too firmly a few moments later. A while later I heard the shower start to run.

I wasn't sure really what to do at this point. I looked over at the dining table and saw the prepared food just sitting there and the nice, friendly dinner I had prepared had just gone to waste. But it wasn't the ruined dinner that broke my heart, it was Edward's distant and cold demeanor that had me feeling so hurt.

I placed a few pieces of food on Isaac's tray as I started to clean up the still-warm dinner. Once the leftovers were put away and the dishes were cleaned, I washed up Isaac before taking him upstairs. I was careful not to cross paths with Edward while I got Isaac bathed and dressed for bed. By the time I was done, there was still some time before I had to put Isaac to bed so I had him sit on his bed and watch an episode of Paw Patrol on the tablet I borrowed from Edward. While my son was entertained, I knew it was time for me to grow a pair and confront Edward. I couldn't put this conversation off any longer and it was time to confirm everything I already knew to be true.

It would be sad to know that this is how my...arrangement with Edward would end. But, in time, it was better this way. I just wish my last memory of us in this house didn't involve us leaving on such uneasy terms.

With great hesitation, I approached Edward's door and gave three gentle knocks.

"Edward? It's Bella." I called.

"I know it's you, Bella. What do you want?" He was annoyed.

"I just want to talk."

"I already told you, I want to be left alone," He told.

"Edward, Please?" I begged.

"Ugh" I heard him groan before the knob turned and the door opened. Edward didn't meet my gaze yet again as he let me in then walked back to his bed. I went ahead and closed the piece of wood behind me. I just leaned against the frame, not daring to get too close to him.

"What do you want to talk about?" He mumbled. I could see a few droplets of water fall from his bronzey, damp mane. Clearly, he was still distraught with me.

"I, uh..." I started to say. "I just wanted to let you know that I cleaned up the kitchen."

"Fine," He gruffed. "Is there anything else you wanted to say or can I be left in peace?"

I found my voice again. "Edward, I need to ask you something."

I made two long strides to the bed and then looked at Edward square in the eye. I summoned all my courage to ask the question I was so scared to have answered.

I took a deep inhale. "Do you want us to leave?"

Edward's eyes seemed to jump out of his head and his face just gave this questionable look.

"What?" He asked as if he didn't me.

"Do you want Isaac and I to move out?" It was just as scary and painful to ask the question the second time around.

Edward just stared at me for a long time, giving no indication of whether he heard me or not or what his answer would be. He then put his head down, just looking at the ground and away from my gaze.

"Bella…" He whispered. And that was all the confirmation I needed. I quickly turned away, afraid my eyes might give me away.

"N-no," I stumbled to say. "It's fine Edward, I understand. I'll start looking for a place tomorrow. We'll be out in a couple of weeks." I tried to make my escape out the door when I suddenly felt a hand stop me.

I turned to look behind me and saw Edward's hand in my own, gripping for dear life. My eyes traveled up his arm to his face. The anguish in his eyes had long replaced the anger they once held.

"Bella," He said gently, "I don't want you to go." He then pulled at my hand and had me join him on the bed. Edward was quiet for another moment.

"Bella, I don't want you guys to leave. You and Isaac are both welcomed here for as long as you want. Never doubt that." He spoke with such affirmation, never letting go of my hand.

I felt shocked and relief suddenly consumes me. Along with that, I felt skeptical as well. Because if it wasn't me and Isaac then I honestly didn't know what Edward's problem was lately.

"Then why Edward?" I asked him. "Why did you dismiss me just now downstairs? And why...why have you just been in this gloomy mood lately?"

At first, he was quiet. Not saying a word and looking at my hands.

"I've just been going through a rough time right now, Bella." He simply said. But I knew there was more to what he was saying, so I decided to press him.

"Then talk to me, Edward," I told him. "Please."

He shook his head, unwilling to communicate. I wasn't about to have that. I pulled my hand from his grasp and laid them both on top of his, holding them for once instead of letting them comfort me.

"Edward, are we friends?" I asked. He looked up, staring at me puzzled. Not sure where I was going but nodded in response.

"Then we should act like it," I told him. "You have been there for me, ever since you rescued me from that overturned car." We both seemed to wince as we remembered the circumstances of which we met.

"You have always supported me and cared for me and my son every step of the way. You have helped me heal so much, let me try to help you now. That's what friends do." I squeezed his hands in mine.

He stayed quiet for another set of heartbeats and I could see that he was currently in debate with himself, whether to tell me what was bothering him or not. After a while, he finally spoke up.

"Tanya," He just said.

"Whose Tanya?"

"My college girlfriend. And the woman I was supposed to be sharing this house with," I could see the sadness don his face as he remembered his old sweetheart.

He then sat back a little more on the bed, trying to make himself more comfortable before continuing his story.

"I met Tanya my first year of college," He began and I suddenly remembered him mentioning something about that previously. "I thought she was the most beautiful thing in the world. She was blonde with these incredible sparkling blue eyes and legs for days…" He wanted to continue describing this woman to me, but once he looked over in my direction, his expression changed and quickly cleared his throat before going on.

"Anyway," He said. "We met during my second semester, she was my tutor for one of the courses I was taking. At first, it was innocent. Platonic. We'd meet for our usual Wednesday sessions, sometimes we'd grab coffee after, but eventually, things changed and we started hanging out more as friends outside of studying. Then slowly, things progressed and our relationship went from platonic to romantic and I was so happy." From the look in his eyes as he reminisced about his past, I could tell Edward was truly happy back then.

"We were dating for about three years and by the time I started my senior year, I was sure that she was the one for me."

"I get it," I told him, trying to sound supportive and sympathetic.

"No, you don't!" He argued. "Bella, I had every intention of spending the rest of my life with Tanya. I was planning our future together; Marriage, children, everything."

He then grew very quiet, putting his head down. He took five deep breaths.

"I bought her a ring," he confessed. "I bought this house for her...for us."

I gasped at this new information.

"Why?" I asked.

He gave a forced, hollow laugh. "Because I was so sure she'd say yes. That's how in love I was with this woman."

I heard him softly mumble "idiot" under his breath.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" Wanting to comfort my friend, but not wanting to overstep.

"No," Edward said flatly. I just nodded, so sure that's where things would end until I felt him give my hand a soft squeeze. "But, I think I need to. So I can finally just close that part of my life."

I straighten up on the bed, preparing to hear the rest of Edward's story.

"After graduation, I had everything planned out. Right before I started classes to get my paramedics license, I was going to propose to Tanya. When she said yes, I was going to surprise her with this house. I thought it was such a good idea at the time. We could move in here and plan the wedding. Then, once we married, we'd already had a home, in a nice neighborhood. I figured after that, we'd possibly start a family."

"But, none of that happened," I stated.

He gave another dark chuckle. "Not even close."

"The night before I was originally planning to propose, I went over to Tanya's apartment for dinner. She had made this delicious meal; meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and broccoli." He eyed me with a slight grin.

I wanted to crawl into myself and just die at that moment. I felt so guilty and mortified.

Overlooking my obvious embarrassment, Edward kept going. "We were in the middle of eating when I noticed how quiet Tanya was being. She just sat at the other end of the table, never even looking up in my direction. I could see that something was troubling her. When I asked her about it, she just started sobbing"

I looked at him curiously.

"I pressed her more. She then broke down and just started saying 'I'm so sorry, Edward. I'm so sorry'". He stopped and his face began to tense up, telling me this was going to be difficult for him.

"Turns out, Tanya was cheating on me." He said matter-of-factly.

Shit

"She wasn't just cheating on me. She was pregnant with the other guy's baby," He said.

Double shit

"And, you want to know what's worse?" He asked me rhetorically. "The guy's name was Eric, a really good friend of mine and the son of one of my dad's colleagues."

Triple Shit.

"Shit," Was the only word I could find.

"Yeah," Edward replied.

We both just sat there for a minute, letting the weight of what had just been saying linger. I was trying to make sense of the story Edward just told. In my head, it was hard to fathom how someone could not only cheat but choose someone else over him. I mean, his bronzed hair and his sweet, emerald eyes were enough to make even the strongest of women blush. Not to mention his sly crooked grin that had the power to turn everyone's head.

It just didn't seem right. But given the pain and anger on his face, I could tell it was all true.

"Do you know what happened to her?" I asked him after some time.

He shrugged, "After I cussed her out and ended things, I heard she and Eric moved to Boston. She had the baby, as far as I know."

He just placed his elbows on top of his thighs, clenched his hands together, and put his head down once more.

Something overcame me at that moment and I put my hand on Edward's back, comforting him as best I could while rubbing his back in gentle circles. I know up until this point, it's usually been Edward to initiate contact between the two of us. However, right now it felt like I needed to be the supportive one and be there for my friend and roommate.

"Do you still think about her?" I asked. "What might have been, I mean."

"I try not to. But it's been hard lately," He expressed. "It's going on five years now since she broke my heart and made me doubt my own heart."

"Does your family know about Tanya?" I asked him.

He lifted his head up and just stared at the ceiling. "They knew we were dating, but they didn't know about the proposal or of Tanya's pregnancy. I just told them it didn't work out."

"Oh," Now it was my turn to look away.

"I'm so sorry, Bella," Edward said. I looked back at his glistening green eyes and I just stared back at them with a look of confusion.

"I'm sorry that I've been an insufferable, moody prick this last week," He explained.

"It's okay," I assured him. "I get it now that you were just hurting."

"It's still no excuse, Bella," He adamantly expressed. "My personal issues are no reason to treat the people around me like shit. Especially you of all people." He ran his fingers through his hair, pulling at the ends a little bit. I then took his hand in my own again.

"Edward," I said, making full eye-to-eye contact with him. "I understand why. You were in pain and I of all people know what it's like to be in pain."

"You were hurting and had no way of letting it out," I continued. "But I hope you know that you can come and talk to me if there is anything bothering you, always. You have been there for me, through this entire process. You have been so kind and sweet and patient with me and I can never thank you enough for it." I gave his hands a gentle squeeze.

"So please let me do the same for you. If there is ever a time you need to unload on me and discuss your problems with me, I will always be here to listen. No matter what. Do you understand?" I spoke in my "mom voice" to emphasize my point.

Edward just looked at me the whole time, not saying a word but he didn't need to. His face said everything. I could see him trying to hold back some of the tears he was keeping in.

"I do, Bella" He finally told me. His head went back down and I could see his shoulders start to shake as the sobs slowly came.

Feeling the same odd impulse as before, I found myself reaching for Edward. I wrapped my arms around his form as his head came to rest on my shoulder. I rubbed his back and just let him spill his emotions onto me.

"It's okay, Edward" I comforted him. "I'm here. I've got you."

I don't know how long we sat there on the bed, with me holding Edward, but eventually, the tears subsided and Edward lifted his head to look at me.

We just looked at one another. At some point though, I'm not sure how it happened, but I eventually found myself lying on Edward's bed with him holding me now.

With my head and hand resting against his chest and his right arm wrapped around me, I found myself getting comfortable on Edward's bed.

"Why did you decide to still move in here?" I asked him.

"I had already signed the deed and all the paperwork had already gone through," He admitted.

I lifted my head and gave him a shocked expression.

"I was so sure she was going to say yes," He shrugged his shoulders.

I slightly rolled my eyes before my place against his chest again. I let my nose rest against his t-shirt, breathing in the scent of him. He smelled like a mixture of clean linen, cedarwood, and just straight Edward.

"You don't have to say it, Bella. I know I'm an idiot," Pulling me out of my aromatic, haze.

"You're not an idiot," I told him. "You're a man who was very committed to a woman. A man who was very much in love."

"Same difference," He muttered under his breath, but I still heard him.

We both chuckled at his remark. Slowly our laughter died down and then without planning to I gradually succumbed to subconsciousness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Rescue Me~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(EPOV)

I awoke the next morning before the rays of sunlight had even cast a reflection through my window. After rubbing my eyes, I felt the opposite side of the bed being weighed down. At first, I assumed it was Maggie, but when I looked over I was surprised at what I found.

I saw the back of Bella's head. Her long mahogany locks casting a wave of brown across the pillows. I noticed she was still wearing the same clothes she had on last night, black leggings and a graphic tee. I was momentarily confused at what my eyes were seeing. Why was Bella in my bed? Just then, however, my brain started to catch up with me and the events of last slowly played back in my memory.

After spilling my guts out to Bella about the whole Tanya incident, we both must have fallen asleep on my bed. I was surprised though that Bella had stayed with me the whole night. It was unlike her to spend a night away from Isaac, even if it is just down the hall.

I then felt movement on the bed coming from Bella's side, I looked over and saw Isaac's blonde hair covering parts of Bella's neck. He was in a pair of dinosaur pajamas and had burrowed himself into his mother's form while cuddling one of his stuffed animals.

Poor little guy. He must have come out looking for Bella sometime in the night and made his way into my room. I hope he didn't get too scared. Bella had both arms wrapped around the two-year-old and I just starred there in awe and watched them for a few moments.

I laid back down on my side and quickly replayed yesterday over in my head. Remembering everything I told Bella and I had to admit that I was slightly embarrassed. I had never told anyone about what happened between Tanya and me, not even to my own parents. But for some reason, I felt the need to confide in Bella and tell her everything and I could not, for the life of me, figure out why.

Was it because she had already told me all the gory details of her past?

Was it because she thought I wanted her and wanted her and Isaac out?

When Bella told me she thought the reason for my sour and otherwise detached behavior was because I wanted her and Isaac out, it immediately snapped me out of it. I never wanted to make Bella feel as though she was unwelcome or unwanted in my house.

Ever.

She just sat there though, stronger than I'd ever seen her, and let me explain to her the crapstorm that was my life. I honestly did believe Tanya was the one for me. I truly did believe we were each other's other half. But after she confessed that she had been having an affair with one of my childhood friends, I realized just how wrong I was. After that, I lost all faith in finding anyone and decided that I was destined to be a bachelor for the rest of my life.

For the most part, I was content with being alone and rarely I gave Tanya a moment of thought. But with the fifth anniversary of our breakup coming up, I don't know, the emotions I had been ignoring for so long seemed to come up all at once. And for some reason it caused me to isolate myself and be stand-offish towards Bella.

And that was not okay at all.

I cringe thinking about how I acted towards her in the recent days, especially about last night. She was just trying to do a nice thing for me and make us a nice dinner, no harm in that. But when I looked over at the meal and saw that it was the exact meal Tanya had made for me that same night five years ago, I couldn't deal with it. I wrote her off completely and just excused myself. I know I must have made her feel like shit and I'm ashamed of myself because of it.

But Bella being the sweet, understanding person that she is forgave me for everything. How she found the heart to even approach me last night, I will never know. But she was able to come to my room and confront me and then forgive my actions and even comfort me. This only further confirmed my beliefs of what a saint Bella was.

However, her sympathetic behavior towards me doesn't excuse the fact that I was a complete and total dick to Bella this week and I needed to make it right. As I sat there on the bed and with me having the day off, I swore that I would make today all about Isaac and Bella. Whatever they wanted to do, I would do.

The sudden sound whimpering at my bedside caught my attention. I looked over to see Maggie laying her head against my side of the bed, with that begging look in her eyes.

Right after I take Maggie out I said in my head.

I quickly got up, making sure not to disturb the two sleeping figures in my bed. Maggie followed me out of the room and I quietly closed the door behind me and the two of us made our way down the stairs.

After I let my dog out back in the yard I decided to start making coffee for Bella and me and then prepare breakfast for the three of us. I was in the middle of cracking eggs for french toast when I was interrupted by a knock on my front door. I looked over at the clock on the wall and saw it was only half-past eight.

Who the hell is that so early? I wondered.

I opened my front door to see a fresh face, pregnant blonde standing on my front porch holding a plate covered in saran wrap.

"Rosalie," I said both shocked and pleasantly surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to give you these," Handing me the plate of cookies. "Red velvet cookies with white chocolate chips. Your birthday is coming up and I know they're your favorite."

"Thank you," I said, accepting the treats.

"I also came to give you this," Rose then smacked me on the back of my head.

"OW!" I yelled. "What the Hell, Rose?!"

"You tell me, Ed," She said, giving me a 'what-the-fuck' expression. "What's going on?"

"What do you mean?" I replied, still rubbing the bump she had currently left on my cranium

"I mean what's going on with you and Emmett?" She put her hands on her hips. "One day you guys are thick as thieves and the next you just stopped talking."

"Why don't you ask Emmett?" I questioned.

"Because every time I bring you up or ask why we haven't been over here in so long, he just tells me it's nothing. Then tells me not to stress about it, that it's not good for the baby and then just changes the subject." She rolls her eyes in annoyance.

"I don't know what to say, Rose," I admitted, trying not to look her in the eye.

"Edward…." She sighed and took another deep. "Emmett and I are having a girl."

That made my head turn.

"Rose, that's fantastic news," I honestly couldn't wait to see how Emmett would handle having a little girl running around. If she was anything like her mother, he was about to have his hands full.

"Yeah, it should be," She exclaimed. "We should be wrapped in joy and love and preparing for our baby. But instead, my husband is so sad and depressed all the time over the loss of one of his best friends he can't even enjoy becoming a father."

She just stared at me, never removing her eyes from mine. I felt so guilty. I didn't want Rose to be mad at me, but I also didn't want to disrespect Emmett's wishes and pull her into all of this.

"Rose...there's just a lot going on right now and I can't hang out with you guys as much," I gave a very vague explanation.

"That's exactly what Alice said when I asked her," She argued. "But you still find the time to see her and Jasper."

"She's my sister. It's different."

"Edward, please don't insult my intelligence by giving me some bullshit excuse," Rose groaned. "I know there is more to it than that. Damn it, I feel like everyone is on some big secret and no one is telling me shit."

Rose ran her fingers through her blonde waves of hair and spun away from my gaze, probably trying to compose herself.

"Edward, I'm about to have a baby," She finally said, turning back around. "And I don't want to bring my daughter into the world with all of these secrets and hostility around her. Everyone keeps telling me that everything is fine and not to worry. But the more people tell me not to stress, the more stressed I become. I just want to know what's going on Edward." She then laid her hands overtop her floral sundress, holding her pregnant belly.

"Rose I-" I was about to tell her another sly-fib when I heard footsteps coming down the stairs behind me.

"Edward, what is it?" Bella asked as she came up from behind me and stood in the doorway.

"Bella?" Rose asked, her jaw practically hitting the concrete patio floor, and the color drained from her face.

"Rosalie?" Bella replied, conveying the same look of shock.

"Bella!" Rose exclaimed and charged straight through the front door. Suddenly my existence was forgotten.

My eyes followed Rose as she immediately went to Bella, embracing her in such a tight hug.

"Oh my God," Rose cried out. "You're alright. I was so worried about you. Are you okay? Where's Isaac? Is he okay?"

"I'm fine, Rosalie," Bella answered, her arms wrapped equally tight around Rose. "Isaac is fine."

"Are you sure?" Rose pressed. She cupped her face into her hands. Bella nodded and Rose pulled her into another hug.

"Oh thank God!"

The two women stood there hugging for another half-a-minute.

"I was so scared for you," Rose said, her voice heavy with emotions and tears. "I was starting to fear the worse."

"It's okay, Rosalie. We're okay," Bella comforted her apparent friend as tears fell down her cheeks as well.

"Where's Isaac?" Rose asked her previous question.

"He's asleep in Edward's room," Bella answered and they finally acknowledged me.

What the fuck is going on?!

"You've been staying with Edward?" Rose turned to ask Bella. She nodded.

"For how long?"

"For that last couple of months," Bella answered.

"Is that why you guys haven't been talking?" Rose was now questioning me as they both turned in my direction.

"Woah, hold up," I said. Trying to backtrack a little bit.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked again. "How do you know Bella?"

It was Bella's turn to step in.

"Edward, remember when I said I was supposed to meet a woman in the city and she was supposed to help me get away from James? The day of the accident?" She asked me.

"Rose was the woman I was supposed to meet."

Oh.


Don't Hit Me!

I'll try to have another chapter up next week, but I can't make promises. School is starting to take its toll. But I hope you all know how important this story is to me. Let me know what you all think though, I love it when you guys give me feedback. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and hope you have a wonderful rest of your week.

Until Next Time...