A/N: So! The reviews I got with the last chapter were extraordinary, and each day since I published, this new chapter has taken shape. Reading your reviews... acts like a creativity turbo booster. Canon messes? Well, it is 2020 and not 2005... so I will adjust cultural norms. The broken windows idea comes from Stephenie Meyer herself! So if you don't recognize some of Bella's Moxy when Edward was gone, or the not so shocking, but offensive act Edward set in motion just prior to leaving, it comes from the first draft of New Moon. Bella and I seem to agree here, and that's rare. I would have acted precisely the same way, so when I found it, everything clicked. I had to make it my own, and more profane, but overall a great subplot.

I would definitely check out all the new stuff she has on the website since Stephenie Meyer released Midnight Sun. I also heard there are two more books coming, and they are post-Breaking Dawn with Renesmee giving a POV.

Enjoy! Read and Review! Your ideas guide the story. Happier times are ahead, I promise.

Per usual, Stephenie Meyer is the owner of the Twilight Universe. Thus, I do not own this. I am refraining from copying what she has on her website, but you'll understand. No copyright infringement intended.

Chapter Five: Broken Windows

I stayed close to Bella's room to watch what the nurses were doing just in case I had to get Carlisle to intervene. Bella, my little weirdo, never does what I expect. Carlisle smiled at me before he informed Bella the plasma treatment was up next. She knew that, but he wanted to let her know he would sedate her until it was over. They set Bella up and she was soon fast asleep.

I went to find Esme...

Upon seeing her face, I regretted that decision... even more so with my entire family packed into Carlisle's office. Foreboding overwhelmed me. "It's just glass! I don't understand why you are making such a big deal out of it. Edward's gift wasn't the only one she returned that way." Emmett said, pouting.

"Edward!" Esme beamed, "I am so glad you came back!" Her mood turned, "don't you ever do that again. Do you understand me? We are talking out loud for Emmett's sanity. This is a family meeting."

Carlisle pinched the bridge of his nose and took a seat behind his desk.

"What were you guys talking about?" I asked, honestly.

"Bella hasn't told you?" Rose asked mid giggle fit.

"Such a rebellious pipsqueak," Emmett joined in Rose's amusement.

Carlisle and Esme were the only two who did not look amused.

"I don't understand," I admitted.

"Well, we haven't told you a few things, Edward. You neglected to tell us a few things."

Oh, no... I tried to think back... what would make my family so amused/upset?

"Go on..." I muttered.

"The window in your room was smashed," Carlisle said.

This alarmed me, although I had left little behind... that was a lie, I left Bella behind. Everything else was trivial. Did someone break into our house?

"Theft?"

The room echoed with howls of laughter.

"No, someone left us two gifts, literally." Alice laughed.

Now I was getting angry about this game, and that they were blocking me from seeing what they were talking about.

"Go on..."

"Well, the little vandal gave us much more than she damaged. It's not every day a box with twenty thousand dollars in cash gets launched through a window." Emmett raised an eyebrow, "She also returned the stereo Rosie and I got her."

"I respect her more than I ever have! She grew a spine!" Rose added.

My jaw dropped. I wanted Bella to go to college, a good college, one that she could easily get into, but not afford. So I started a college fund, with only one recipient, via our shadow corporation.

"Am I supposed to tell you everything?" I responded.

None of them knew about hiding her birthday gifts before leaving town. Or did they?

"Edward," Alice said, gritting her teeth. "You cannot just take that much money and not tell us! Jasper needed to be notified; he oversees transactions! I am the one who is playing the stock market! You are the one who deals with real estate, or anyone questioning its legitimacy. Those are the roles and you know that! You should have told us. Do you want to see what Bella's note said?"

I wasn't sure. Despite Bella's backward reactions, I never thought of her as a vandal. Not in a million years would she ever destroy property. I'm not good at predicting her reactions, and that has not changed. I need to learn more about the new Bella.

Alice handed me the note.

Edward and Cullen Family.

I have tried to give this money back, in every way possible, but you've made that impossible. So I'm returning it, and the stereo, the only gift Edward didn't take away before abandoning me in the forest. Sorry about the glass. I am sure twenty thousand dollars is more than enough to fix it...

Hopefully, someone who needs or wants your meaningless gifts will come across them.

I am not that person.

You told me I was family... You lied.

I'm an object you got tired of, and left behind, no different than your furniture.

Really, you made me feel like a whore without the benefit of having a sex life. Did you really think money would make me forget the only person I'll ever love? Or the family I never really had?

I am not that girl.

I would have preferred it if you were poor! Edward must have bought into what our former schoolmates, and the entire town of Forks, believes... I only wanted him for his money.

I don't want your fucking money, your fucking pity, and ESPECIALLY not your fucking gifts.

You forced these gifts on me. Your birthday gifts were all about you and what you believed I should want! It did not matter how much I objected! I was the one who paid for them, regardless.

The only gift I genuinely loved; my lullaby... I no longer have because of Edward.

I pulled the stereo out with my bare hands. I think I broke it. It's only money, right? If I get any more... I'll be returning it in the same fashion. I'm perfectly fine without endless funds... I always have been.

If it takes another fifty years for you to return... At least I will have done what you did not. Say Goodbye.

Bella.

I swallowed, hard. Looking around the room, not a single person had a lighthearted look on their face. How did they not notice this before? Why was this the first time I heard anything about it?

"How long have you known about this?" I asked, defensively.

"Well, when we first came back... we weren't looking at your room... you were too busy having a pity party in Brazil... AHH crap..." Alice said, looking at Jasper who was frowning at her.

"I'm confused."

"Son," Carlisle said, then sighed. "When I first started hearing about COVID-19 in November, Esme and I decided that if it hit our shores, we would come back here. Even if it was just the two of us. Forks hospital did not have the equipment, or the PPE to oversee a pandemic. During that time I started talking to colleagues to get ventilators, PPE, and innovative bleeding edge medical tech. The first of February Alice saw you returning, so we moved to Seattle. After she saw COVID would impart enough resolve for you to come home, Esme and I began slowly and silently returning to Forks. It frustrated us all that you took two more months to hear about it, so half the family remained in Seattle..." Carlisle looked at Jasper, who shook his head.

'Nope! The Seattle mystery we will talk about as a family... which means Bella has to be in the room. She knows more in some respects than we do. Stay out of my head.' Jasper thought.

How frustrating!

"It wasn't until you showed up that we thought about your room, and that's when we noticed."

I scowled angrily at my family, who broke their promise to me.

"Oh! No! You hypocrite! What in the hell is wrong with you? Did you take our gifts from her? Everything? But you sent her money? Even I see how moronic that was!" Rose snarled. "It was mean! And not your choice to make! Bella made the choice of ripping," she stopped and tried to hold back laughter, "the stereo out with her bare hands. Sorry, it's hard to picture."

Esme raised her eyebrow, then scowled, "what else did you take from Bella, Edward? How hard are we going to work to earn her trust back? Carlisle and Alice have been making a lot of progress in attending to Charlie."

Carlisle took her hand and assured Esme that she was included for the same reason.

"I took one picture. I put all the other pictures, gifts, memories underneath her floorboard. I would never want to make her feel like a whore! That never crossed my mind." I snapped.

The entire room groaned.

"It didn't! Because you don't think about sex, and Bella does, Prudeward! The lack of sex, at least!" Emmett couldn't help but laugh.

My 'virtue,' was Emmett's favorite topic to make me squirm. "That is none of your business! You're wrong."

'Chill out, Prudeward! I'm just lightening up the room.' Emmett flashed a toothy grin.

'I'll retrieve the gifts. So help me...' Alice thought, shooting daggers at me.

"Edward is doing well, so far." Carlisle looked at Esme and cleared his throat. "She doesn't trust you as far as she can throw you, but Bella is trying, you both are. She wants you around, but you need to apologize. She is family, Edward. I promised Charlie regardless of what happens between you two, Esme, and I would look after her, even if we have to adopt her to make it official. I do not break my word, but I let you convince me. I must deal with the repercussions of that error in judgment, as does the entire family, but I will not break my word again. Charlie's request conveyed trust from one father to another. He went under, knowing she'd always have someone looking out for her. It reminded me of a similar conversation I had with Elizabeth Masen."

"We all need to talk to Bella, individually." Jasper offered, uncomfortable with the guilt overtaking him. Daring me to challenge him. I knew well enough that he couldn't hurt Bella again, or try to. Besides, I was the one who shoved her into the glass décor

"I agree. I will spend years making up for this. I want to marry her. So can we hold off on the adoption talk? I don't think she'll appreciate that."

"I'm not so sure about that, it's more like commitment, a symbol we'll never leave her behind again. She goes where we do if she wants." Alice shrugged.

I did not like where this was going! Bella wasn't my sister! I messed up badly, but I felt like I was standing in quicksand. Why would she want me around when all I do is screw up?

"Edward, stop." Jasper was feeling my misery. "She loves you... so much more than I thought possible. You think humans are lower beings, who cannot love as we do. You don't know that, because you did not love as a human, and Bella is not normal. The love you two share is evenly matched. You are her mate. Can we put that to rest now? You can't leave your mate; it doesn't work out well. Right, Carlisle?"

"Marcus," Carlisle muttered.

Jasper went on, "I know better than anyone else here how she feels. Bella may run the gamut of negative emotions, but she cannot disguise the comfort you bring her or the familial love she has for the rest of us. Fixing your relationship won't be easy, but you'll make it through this. If there is a will..." Jasper grinned. "There is a reason we have all stayed together for so long, the thought of separating is unbearable. So, we find our way through challenging times. You two are no different."

"She said she needs something more from me... tangible commitment." I didn't quite ask, but it implied the question.

"Isn't Carlisle going to change her?" Rose asked.

"Yes," Carlisle answered for me.

"Words..." I offered. How many promises had I broken?

"Well, Edward, ask her what she wants and make it happen! Listen to her! Compromise! Give and take! You have been around us all the longest, you are not stupid, Edward! Once you stop thinking she's different, it will be much easier!"

"You could always scratch that itch!" Emmett joked.

"Shut up!" I growled.

Rose and Emmett were laughing it up.

"Okay! We have a lot to talk about, but it's getting late. Edward and I should go back to her room now. I'll remove all the evidence of her plasma treatment and let her rest. You can be of immense help, Edward. If we can keep her from spiking fevers, she'll be on the mend much quicker. I'd like to discharge her tomorrow if all goes well. She isn't sick enough to justify an extended hospital stay. I'll keep an eye out on her with the telemetry devices I'm sending her home with. As long as her oxygen saturation levels go up from where they are now, she should be fine. She'll be in excellent hands with you." Carlisle's voice had reverted to fatherly pride.

Pride I was sure I didn't deserve.

Panic flared, "but... Carlisle... what if something happens too quickly for me to do anything?"

Memories from Chicago became fresh... someone would walk in their home healthy and then twelve hours later they'd leave in a body bag.

"This is not like the Spanish Influenza, medically. Society is repeating the same mistakes, but perhaps it's because they were never taught about that time in history. A raging pandemic while women fought for the right to vote, civil rights. Women are still fighting, but also fighting for others that this country has wronged." Carlisle tried to soothe me, but shame hit Jasper's face at the same time.

Interesting.

xxx

Bella was no longer sedated but was asleep. I pulled a chair next to her bed and pulled out the iPad Alice left for me... I began thinking about the first days of getting to know Bella... Tooth and Claw... that was the book she had read that I had not. After buying the kindle version, I went about rectifying that situation. My mind was also trying to find a way to show Bella that I did not mean to make her feel the way I had. I never will again. What could I give her that is tangible proof of commitment when my own parents have offered adoption?

Ask her dummy

"Okay!" I said too loud, not wanting Hallucinabella to appear.

Stupid... stupid... stupid.

"Who are you talking to?" Bella croaked, her eyes half-open.

"Myself?" I lifted a shoulder.

"Hmm k... Will you lay down with me?" Bella asked, slurring a bit.

"I would love to."

The peace at that moment made all the distressing news float away. We'd be alone tomorrow, and my resolve was more than firm in making this... us... work. Even if that means learning Bella's idea of romance.

Bella... My love... not my sister!

Mine!

A/N: Thanks for reading everyone! I hope you are liking where this is going. Please let me know what you think! Not only do you give me the motivation to get up and write but you are really guiding this story. So read and review!