Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Twilight or Vampire Diaries. Those rights are reserved for Stephanie Myer and L.J. Smith. I do own the original characters made up for this storyline. Thank you.

Writer's Notes: Thank you pozemom and armywife1979 for your reviews! Armywife, I feel like you're on my brainwave length or something. Jeremy has been through the ringer. Losing parents is never easy. He needs a dad right now, to help with these emotions that he's going through, which is where Alaric will come in eventually. I'm glad that I could keep you on your toes pozemom! Keep following along with Bella, and don't forget to favorite, follow, and review! Thank you to all my silent followers as well!

Mystic Falls was not a big town. Word spread like wildfire; the moment Edward Cullen was picked up by Sheriff Forbes. Carlisle and Esme Cullen were beside themselves. It pained Bella so much because her and Alice were friends, good friends, and now she felt like she was tearing apart the family.

Bella didn't go to school today, in fear that people would say something to her, and she wasn't ready for all that. She skipped, and went to the Mystic Grille instead, where the only waitress was an older lady in her fifties at this time.

Damon was tied up in the legality of it all, representing Bella in this situation. Klaus told her that he would never leave her side, and be there for her every step of the way, but she was embarrassed after kissing him, and sent him back to the gallery, and told him she would talk to him later.

"Bella?" A voice called her name, and she looked up from her plated food, which contained a simple burger and fries.

Emmett was standing there. He looked…sorry.

"Oh, hi Emmett." Bella said, her voice small. She looked down at her food, trying to avoid his gaze.

"I'm sorry." Emmett said, and sat down in front of her. "Please look at me."

Bella hesitated, not sure if she could, but she looked up at him, trying to keep the tears at bay.

"I'm sorry that you're struggling and going through this. This should have never happened to you."

"Why are you sorry?"

"Because it was my brother. I'm supposed to be the big brother and set an example, and make sure he doesn't fuck up in life, and because I failed, I failed you. Bella, regardless of who Edward is, especially in relation to me, he did something that is unforgivable. He's stupid, reckless, and he doesn't deserve pity or sympathy." Emmett explained. "He kept the evidence on him Bella."

Bella's brows furrowed together. "What evidence?"

Emmett looked away. "I guess that night…he got spooked and put the condom in his jacket. He forgot about it. He hasn't worn that jacket since that night."

For some reason, she felt relieved. Relief that he had thought to use protection first off, but relieved that he had stupidly kept the evidence. "I…"

"Emmett Cullen," A voice called.

Bella looked up, seeing Damon and Emmett turned and looked at Damon. "Hey Damon," Emmett said, acknowledging him, but not moving from his spot.

"Bella, is Emmett bothering you?" Damon's eyes never left Emmett.

"He's not, he's fine Damon. Thank you." She said and looked from Damon, back to Emmett. She offered him a smile. "Thank you for saying what you said. It helps knowing that the entire world isn't against me right now."

Emmett looked concerned. "People are saying shit?"

"I don't know. I just feel like they are."

Emmett shook his head. "They better not. I'll shove my fist down their throats."

Damon narrowed his eyes. Emmett was defending Bella, not his brother. That struck him as odd, but he didn't make a comment. "Thank you, Emmett, for your chivalry. I have some things I need to discuss with Bella, in private."

Emmett looked at Damon, understanding his hint, and got up. He looked back at Bella. "Seriously Bells, if people are talking shit, I'll put an end to it. Mom and dad are…very upset with Edward. He doesn't have a lot of support right now, so don't worry about it. Alice sends her love as well. She's at school, but she wanted you to know that she loves you. That she doesn't blame you not one bit."

That did make Bella feel better. She nodded and then watched Emmett leave. She looked at Damon, as he sat down, unbuttoning the button on his suit jacket as he did. "I know that I should feel better now that Liz is questioning Edward, and I have people on my side, but I just feel…." She didn't know how to put it into words.

Damon nodded. "Well, that is surprising to hear about the Cullen's. Carlisle and Esme haven't hired legal council for Edward. From what we've gathered so far, is that he did have evidence on him that connected him to you. We have the rape kit your doctor did, and your accusation. If Edward does confess, then it's locked down. He'll see real jail time. I'm pushing for 5-8 years. He'll have to register as a sex offender wherever he lives and- "

"This will ruin his entire life…" Bella whispered.

Damon frowned. "Bella, he assaulted you, took something from you, you can't get back."

"I know."

"He's a rapist. He doesn't just get to do what he wants without consequence."

"I know."

"Why are you feeling sorry for him?" Damon's voice was angry, his face, angry as well.

Bella sighed. "I was in love with him two years ago, and…it didn't end great. He cheated on me, and I refused to have sex with him then. Maybe if I hadn't refused then- "

"No." The word was sharp. "Don't you do this to yourself. He's not worth your pity, or your concern. He's the vilest creature that walks the earth right now. He's a monster Bella."

She was quiet. She couldn't argue with Damon. He wasn't wrong. She wanted Edward to pay, she really did. She couldn't even look at him anymore. She thought she knew him, and he…did something that is unforgivable. She's having nightmares now, and she doesn't know if she'll ever fully recover from this.

"Where are you going after here?" Damon asked simply, his voice calmer.

"Probably home. I…don't want to be anywhere."

Damon nodded. "You shouldn't be alone either. Bella, I'm worried about you."

"I'm not going to hurt myself," she said quietly.

"I know, but you shouldn't be going through this alone." He said, his voice softening. He reached out, his hand covering hers. She looked at his hand, his thumb rubbing over the back of her hand.

She sighed. "I'll be okay," she looked up at him, meeting his icy blue stare. Damon was amazing. He cared so much about her, about her family. He was good friends with her dad despite the large age gap between the two. He was successful, he was everything that any woman would want. Except, she couldn't.

"Call Klaus."

She frowned, looking up at him. "Why?"

"He calms you down, and keeps you calm. You need him to be by your side through all of this."

She shook her head, withdrawing her hand now. "No. He's my business partner, number one, and number two, I don't need anyone. I want to be alone. I need to process all of this."

Damon sighed, resigning. "At least keep the people who care about you and love you, in the loop. Don't keep your thoughts to yourself. Let us know when you're hurting."

"I am hurting Damon," she shook her head, blinking back tears. "I'm hurting because I've lost a friend, I've lost my father, and I lost myself." She looked at him. "I'm hurt, and that's okay. I will be okay. It will take me time, but I will be okay. I don't want people to burden themselves with worrying about me." She stood then, taking money out of her wallet and putting it on the table to pay for her half-eaten food. "I'm going home now. Please stop worrying." She turned and walked away, not giving Damon a chance to say much else.

She got all the way to her car when Jasper appeared. She jumped, startled by his sudden appearance. "You're supposed to be at school."

"Well, I wanted to check on you. When you weren't at home, I came here." Jasper said.

She sighed. "People need to stop checking on me. I'm okay damnit."

Jasper raised a brow. "Well, alright. You're okay." He nodded. "That's good. Do you want to talk?"

"Not really, but…" she did want to know what people were saying at school. She bit her lip, thinking about asking about what the other kids at school were saying.

"People are upset that Edward did this. It was shocking at first, the realization that he did do this, but they aren't directing any of their hate or anger at you darling. You have a lot of support." Jasper answered her unspoken question.

She nodded, looking away, but his hand came up, tilting her face back to look at him.

"You didn't tell me…" he murmured. "I could have done something sooner; you didn't have to carry all of this by yourself."

"I was…afraid, and I didn't want the world to know…I didn't realize it then, but now I do. I should have spoke up, done something about it, but I wasn't sure. I didn't know what happened, and I didn't start piecing it all together, until I started remembering more."

Jasper shook his head. "I'm so sorry that I didn't figure it out."

"You don't need to be sorry. But thank you for worrying about me." She said and stepped away from him. "I'll see you at school tomorrow." She managed to say before getting into her Jeep. She waved at Jasper and backed away from the Grille. Holding in her tears as she drove away.

[November 20th, 2022: Court]

Edward stood, dressed in the grey jumpsuit that was uniform for Mystic Falls' jail. His shoulder was still in a sling. His parents refused to hire him a lawyer, and his siblings literally rejected him, casting him aside without a second thought. He was appointed a lawyer because that was his right, but he knew that he messed up. He knew he was guilty, and he knew that if he fought this, it would make it harder on Bella. He should have never did it. He drugged her, got her alone, and then…he took from her. It wasn't his proudest moment, and he couldn't even say he was drunk, because he had been sober. He had no defense, and he didn't deserve one.

He stood when the judge walked in, and then sat down when instructed.

"You're pleading guilty still?" His lawyer leaned over and asked him. His lawyer was short, balding, and had a weird eye tick that drove Edward insane. Edward nodded, not uttering a word.

Damon sat at the other desk to the side, and he was looking at some papers. Bella wasn't in court today because she didn't have to. This was a preliminary hearing. Beside Damon sat Lexi Branson, the Assistant DA for the case. Damon was Bella's lawyer, and he wasn't going to miss this for the world.

The Judge was no other than Richard Lockwood. He was a stern man, one that left emotion at the door when it came to the law.

Richard looked over some papers. He looked at Edward and his attorney. "Mr. Cullen, you've been charged with rape in the 1st degree, how do you plead?"

Edward stood, like his lawyer instructed, his lawyer stood too. His lawyer spoke for him. "Guilty, your honor."

Damon's eyes cut over to Edward, his brows furrowing together briefly, but he looked over at Lexi, who was prepared to do a whole speech.

Judge Lockwood nodded, looking down at some papers. "Mr. Cullen, you are pleading guilty to a Class A felony. Do you do this under no duress, and of your own volition?"

Edward nodded. "I do your honor. I am guilty of the crime that is being charged of me."

"Very well." Richard leaned back in his chair looking at Lexi. "Requests?"

Lexi nodded. "We suggest a sentencing of 5 years, with the possibility of parole, and time served. It is requested that Mr. Cullen be placed on the sex offender registry after his time is served as well."

Richard nodded again. He looked at some things on his desk in front of him. "Mr. Cullen, I understand that you're a big name in this community. But that does not get you off lightly. You're sentenced to 5 years, 3 in prison, 2 probation. You will be required to register as a sex offender, wherever you are living after your sentence is completed." He picked up his gavel and slammed it down.

The bailiff came for Edward, remanding him back into a cell. Edward looked at his feet. He swallowed hard, trying to come to terms with what happened.

[The Swan Residence]

Bella was in her art studio, working on a painting. She had scrapped the last three paintings she was working on. She had a hard time focusing lately, and she blamed it mostly on her lack of sleep because of the nightmares.

Damon walked into the house, finding Elena in the living room, her feet propped up on the coffee table and she was watching something on TV. "Where's your sister?"

Elena looked up. "In her studio. Jeremy is at Kol's. Uncle Ric is at the school, and Aunt Jenna is at Whitmore."

Damon nodded. "Thanks," he said and found Bella in her studio, where Elena said she would be. He knocked on the door lightly, the door was open, so Bella looked over at him. She was covered in paint.

"Shoes," Bella reminded him, and Damon slipped them off before entering Bella's sacred space. "Be careful. Paint is everywhere." She warned.

Damon smiled a little. "I know." He said and watched her work on the canvas. He put a hand in his pocket. "Edward plead guilty. There's not going to be a trial."

Bella turned, looking at him. She dropped her paint brush out of her hand. "What?"

Damon nodded. "He plead guilty. You don't have to go to court. He's serving 5 years in total. 3 in jail, and 2 on probation."

She didn't know why she did it, but she went to Damon, her arms sliding around him, and hugging him tight, her face buried in his chest, tears stained his navy dress shirt.

Damon's arms circled her automatically, holding her against him. He kissed the top of her head. "It's over Bella. You can relax."

"I can't believe it." She said, and withdrew from him, wiping at her face. "I thought he would fight it."

"I thought he would too, but he didn't."

"I got paint on you," She frowned, looking at his suit.

Damon shook his head. "It's fine. It's just a suit."

There was another knock on the door, and Klaus stood in the doorway.

"Oh, you're here. I have two of the pencil drawings ready for Mr. Voltaire." She said and moved towards a table that had scattered papers on it, but there were two leather folders, both contained penciled art that Aro Voltaire had requested. Bella grabbed them and walked over to Klaus, handing them to him.

"You've been crying." Klaus noted.

Bella wiped at her face. Damon was quiet, watching her carefully. "Um. Just tears…of relief."

"Oh?" Klaus said, raising a brow. He hadn't looked at the drawings yet. He knew that they would be perfect. He reached out and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, his fingers brushing her cheek gently.

"Edward plead guilty, and I don't have to appear in court." She said, relaying the news Damon just delivered her.

Klaus smiled. "That's wonderful." He said, and then he reached for her, pulling her to him gently. His movements were always so calm, so exact, so noticeable. So, she wouldn't startle, and he intentionally did this because of how jumpy she was with being touched since the incident with Edward. She sighed against him.

Damon looked at his watch, feeling a strange pang in his gut. "I'm going to drop in at the office, file some papers, and then I'll check in with you later Bella." He said, leaving Klaus and Bella alone, sliding his shoes back on as he left.

Bella started to say something to Damon, but he was already gone. She looked up at Klaus, his eyes were so beautiful. She couldn't help but stare into them sometimes, and just get lost.

He leaned in closer. "Is it okay if I kiss you?" Klaus asked, his mouth inches from hers.

Bella nodded, her eyes fluttering close as Klaus' mouth moved over hers. So soft and warm. It sent a little thrill through her, something that she wasn't sure what it meant. She enjoyed the kiss, because he was so subtle with it, so patient and gentle. She leaned into him then, her arms reaching up around his neck, parting her lips slightly, giving him access to her mouth fully.

He dipped his tongue in against hers, taking the kiss to a new level. It wasn't just a simple kiss anymore. It broke a boundary with the two of them, and one that he readily broke. He reached over, setting the folders on the small table by the entrance, his arms wrapping around her fully now, holding her thin body against his.

Her mouth sought his, repeatedly, not wanting to end this perfect moment. Right now, she could forget about all the bad, and focus on Klaus and his lips matching hers.

He groaned a little, pulling back, reeling them both in. Her lips were still parted, a little breathless from the intimacy of the kiss. "Mmm. Bella, the things you do to me." He said, his voice a little shaky, breathless like her.

"I'm sorry," she said, starting to pull away, but he stopped her, his hands dropping to her waist, holding her to him still.

"No. Don't be sorry. I rather enjoyed that, and I can tell you were enjoying it as well. I don't want to pressure you, or make you feel…." He couldn't find the word.

Bella shook her head. "No no…you make me feel…safe. I'm content. I…" she felt a lot of things. Things that she wasn't sure what they meant. Did she think she could have sex right now with him? Probably not, but that didn't mean that she didn't want him to touch her, to kiss her. That much was okay…for now. She wasn't sure when she would get over this feeling of insecurity. She was never ready to be with Edward in that way, and it pushed him to cheat. It wasn't like her and Klaus were dating, but she didn't want to stop him from doing the things he wanted to do because he was stuck with someone who was afraid of sex, now more than before.

"I can tell that you're thinking hard about things. Bella don't overthink anything. If you're worried about me, don't be. I'm not going to make you do anything you don't want to do. If you don't want me to touch you, I won't touch you. If you don't want me to kiss you, I won't do that either. If you want me to do any of those things, then I will do so, with your permission."

She shook her head. "It's not that. I just…" She sighed, leaning her head against his chest, and sighing again. "I don't want to hold you back. I'm jumping to conclusions over here. I don't have much experience in dating, and I don't know what this means, because I really like you Klaus, a lot and I don't want you to feel obligated to- "

"Oh, little Swan. I really like you too. It doesn't matter to me about experiences," he smiled, placing a kiss on the top of her head. "Do you want this to be serious? Do you want to be serious with me? Be mine, and I, yours?"

Bella nodded, not hesitating on that part. She looked back up at him. "I do, but I'm broken inside. I don't think that you would- "

"It's okay." He smiled. "We're all a little broken inside. No one is perfect and that's okay. I will be yours, and only yours. I promise."

She bit her lip, and she heard the small intake of breath from him when she did. "Okay then." She said and smiled. She tilted her face up, meeting his. Her lips brushed against his gently. "I'm yours."

Klaus smiled big, kissing her back, and wrapping his arms around her and just hugging her. He sighed, content with this outcome. "I will always protect you too. No matter what." He murmured into her hair.

[December 18th: Mikaelson Gallery]

Christmas was in 7 more days. Bella had several paintings at the gallery right now, and Aro Voltaire had become a regular client of hers. She made specific commissions for him, of scenes that he wanted painted, and she did them flawlessly. Her and Klaus had been dating for almost a month now, and she was happy with how things were going. She was still having nightmares, and it scared Alaric and Jeremy sometimes, but they were getting less. School was normal, for the most part. The unveiling of the mural was delayed because of the Edward thing, and the school didn't want to do anything until after things were settled. So, the unveiling would be when they returned from winter break. Bella couldn't believe that time was flying by for school. Pretty soon she would be graduated, and she would start at Whitmore University, doing what she loved with art.

"Love, you don't have to stay late to do all of this." Klaus called to her from the doorway of the office. She was sitting there, doing some paperwork. Part of the partnership with Mikaelson Gallery was she took on some of the burden of paperwork.

"Hmm. It's only fair. You do this stuff all the time. There was some stuff I needed to sign anyways." She said, looking up, after she closed a folder and moved, putting it in the filing cabinet behind her.

Klaus smiled and walked into the office, going over to her. He leaned down, kissing her softly.

She kissed him back lightly, before standing up, and taking her jacket, and shrugging into it. "Now, I have to get to the mall to meet Elena."

"Want me to drive you?" Klaus said, watching her get ready to leave.

"I'll be okay. Thank you though." She smiled, picking up her phone from the desk. She leaned in and kissed him again. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Klaus smiled. "Okay. Be careful. The roads are a little slick."

"Will do." She said and was off.

The drive to the mall in McKinney was not that far, but it was getting darker out faster since Winter was nearly there. It had already started dropping below freezing as the nights came earlier. It was rainier more than normal, which Bella didn't particularly care for. She slowed as she rounded certain corners and used her brights when no other cars were coming at her. It was only 5pm, and it was black as pitch out. Her heat was blasting, warming her face and hands, and she felt comforted now. Her phone rang, coming through the speakers in her Jeep. She hit the pickup button on her steering wheel.

"Hello," Bella said.

"Hey, I'm in JCPenney's," Elena's voice sang through the speakers.

"I'll see you-" Bella didn't get the rest out, as another car coming at her slid, fishtailing in the road, and Bella had to slam on her breaks, sliding on the slickness of the road, and they collided.

Bella blacked out instantly.