BPOV

I woke up groggy and disoriented. Sleep never came easy to me, and I only ever got about five hours a night. It wasn't surprising to see the clock flashing three o'clock in the dark room.

The last twelve hours flashed through my mind and I groaned, pressing my head into the fluffy pillow beneath me and hissing through clenched teeth when that made my nose throb. The flash of pain meant I was now wide awake.

I knew from years of experience that if I didn't quickly find something else for my mind to focus on, it would go to very unwanted places. Flicking on the bedside light, I grabbed my bag and wandered out into the quiet house. I tiptoed over to the same sitting area Edward and I had our first meeting and set my bag down.

I wandered through the room for a minute, glancing from the bright city out the window to the beautiful kitchen next to me. Everything in it looked too expensive for me to touch, and I didn't want to wake anyone. I only opened the refrigerator to look for some way to get water. Then I noticed a few beers in the back and grabbed one of those. I was never a big drinker, but the occasion seemed right for some alcohol.

There were too many problems floating around my brain for me to focus on. My life had gone from organized and driven by school to chaotic and driven by butterflies in my stomach.

I spent ten minutes wandering the kitchen, looking for any kind of trashcan to toss the bottle cap in and coming up empty. I tossed the cap in my bag, not wanting to make a mess in Edward's kitchen, and sat down to get to work.

I had only gone through a few emails, hardly enough to get the days' events out of my mind, when I heard footsteps.

"I'm sorry," I gasped quietly, seeing Edward round the corner and freeze when he saw me. "Did I wake you up?"

He shook his head, eyes a little shocked. "No. I was coming to check on you."

Why are you taking such good care of me? My question from last night flashed through my mind. No one cared when this happened. I had come to terms with that a long time ago. Edward hadn't seemed to get the memo on that, though.

"Oh," I mumbled, not sure what to say. Suddenly feeling like a kid caught with their hand in the cookie jar with my beer bottle in hand. "I took a beer."

Edward smiled, a crooked half smile that I had never seen before. "That's okay."

I took a swig, eyes following him as he sat on the opposite end of the couch I was on. I was sitting with my back against the armrest, laptop in front of me and he mimicked my position, eyes always on me.

I owed him an explanation, it was the least I owed him after everything he had done for me. I took another long drink, cringing at the taste. "You can ask."

Edward sighed and ran a hand over his chin. "How long has your step-brother been abusing you?"

I flinched at the question, even though I knew it was coming. "Since I was about eight, I think."

He let out a mumbled curse. "Was it ever… did he…"

"No," I answered quickly. That was the one blessing I had, that Tyler had never touched me. Not that way.

Edward let out a shaky breath, nodding to himself and only looking slightly relieved. "Your mother?"

I snorted at the question, cringing when my nose twinged. "I told my mother about it when I was eleven, after he shoved me down the stairs and I broke my arm. We were in the emergency room waiting for a doctor. She rolled her eyes at me and told me he was just playing, that I probably tripped because I was always so clumsy."

"You were never clumsy, though," Edward muttered.

"No," I sighed, taking another disgusting pull of my beer. "I can walk across a flat surface and not end up at the bottom of the stairs."

"Your father?"

I shrugged. "I told him, too. But, he had five other kids with his second wife within about eight years. He was too busy and agreed with Renee that I was just clumsy."

The whole situation was something I avoided on a daily basis. Whenever I couldn't sleep my mind tended to wander, so I liked being able to work at three in the morning to distract myself, or go to the gym at six and burn all of the anger away with a good workout.

"No one ever believed me," I whispered, talking mostly to myself. It didn't matter how many times I decided I didn't care about them anymore, or how often I told myself I was past the situation. The whole thing left me physically and emotionally scarred. And the two people who were supposed to care the most just… didn't.

They made me doubt everything about myself. Made me in to the kind of person that snapped whenever someone questioned my decision, even when it was a stupid one. The kind of person that was shocked when someone showed me even the most basic form of kindness because I didn't think I deserved it. The person who was too indifferent to speak my opinions when in a crowd because I felt like no one cared in the first place.

"Then you moved about as far away from Florida as you could get," Edward mumbled.

I nodded. "I hadn't seen them in four years," I admitted. I'd had therapists that had to dig the whole story out of me, but Edward was too easy to talk to.

Edward cursed to himself. "I shouldn't have let them in."

"It's not your fault. You were being nice."

Edward shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose.

I still didn't understand why he cared so much, and I had my parents to thank for that, but I appreciated it. "I'm sorry about all of this," I sighed, suddenly feeling like an idiot for throwing all of my problems at him.

Before he could tell me I had nothing to be sorry for, I kept going. "I'm sorry about yesterday, about how invasive some of my questions are, about snapping at you sometimes about it. I'm sorry you got stuck with me as your publicist," I shrugged.

I was very aware that I was entirely underqualified to be his publicist. Someone with his stature needed someone with more experience than I had, and I knew Newton only gave him to me because I was an easy fall guy for not fixing Edward's image.

"I'm not," he admitted, his voice more determined than anything. "I'm sorry your parents are… fucking vile. But, I'm not sorry you're here. You're wonderful at your job, Bella. Determined, hardworking, and stubborn as hell. Even I know it's not the kind of thing that shows results over night."

I sighed, eying him. "You're very good at that," I mumbled.

Edward frowned. "At what?"
"Being nice. Comforting. I don't know."

His frown turned in to a small smile. He was the picture of comfort across from me. Sweatpants low on his hips and a black t-shirt on top. His hair was gloriously messy, partly from sleep and partly from the way he constantly pulled at it as I was talking to him.

We were dressed very similarly. Though the sweatpants on my hips were about three sizes too big and double knotted so they stayed up.

"You can go back to bed, Mr. Cullen," I mumbled, my thoughts suddenly going where only my butterflies wanted them to go.

"God, I hate it when you call me that," he grunted, again running a hand through his messy hair. "I already feel too old around you."

My brows shot up. "You're not old." Sure, he was twelve years older than me, but thirty-four didn't qualify as old.

"Okay, Ms. Twenty-two-year old."

I laughed at that, probably my first full out laugh in days. Maybe it was just the exhaustion or pain in my nose that was making me a little looser with myself.

Edward stood from the couch, snatching the half empty beer bottle from in front of me and taking a swig. I frowned up at him and he chuckled. "You cringe every time you drink it. What would you like? Wine?"

"Oh, um, sure," I replied. He walked over to the kitchen, I leaned back in the couch and saw him open up an unsuspecting cabinet only for a wine refrigerator to be hiding behind it.

"Red or white?"

"White."

Edward came back with his hands full of drinks and a laptop. He got back in his spot across from me on the couch, opening up his computer without a word.

-B-

"What do you think you're doing?" Edward asked as I pulled a duffle out of my trunk. He had walked me over to where my car was parked when we got here this morning. Lucy and Masen were still asleep when we left his place, all evidence of our early morning work gone.

"I have some gym clothes in here. I know it won't be the most professional look, but – "

"You're going home," he demanded, frowning down at me.

"I'm going to work," I countered.

"Bella…"

"I like the distraction of working," I told him. Even though he already knew as much after all of my early morning confessions. I hadn't had enough time away from him to spiral out of control and regret everything I had told him.

Edward nodded, grabbing both my tote and gym bag out of my hands.

"I can carry things, you know."

"I'm aware."

I sighed, my eyes darting up to him every few steps we took. The building was usually empty this early, so thankfully there were no wandering eyes on my black and blue nose. I had a small makeup bag in my gym bag, and my first order of business was covering that mess.

Edward dropped my things in my office, but hesitated at the door. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes," I smiled softly. "Thank you."

Still, my question from earlier floated through my head. People caring so much about me wasn't something I was used to. I had Rose and I knew she cared, but it took me a good year to get to that conclusion. And she was stubborn and blunt and kind of forced me in to believing she cared.

I had been working for Edward for about a month. Half of that time we acted like we hated each other. And still, he dropped everything for me. Held my hand when I was hurt and believed every word I said this morning without a single doubt.

Mentally, I was still a mess from last night. It was like every one of my nightmares from the last four years came true, seeing Renee and her family show up here. Letting Tyler get to me again, leave another bruise on me.

That was probably confusing my judgement. Edward was a nice guy, there was no doubt about that. He was simply showing me some of that basic human decency I always knew he had. Nothing more.

I changed quickly in the restroom. The yoga leggings and t-shirt were hardly work attire, but I would just hide out in my office all day. It took me a good thirty minutes to conceal and cover and lock in the makeup around my nose. There was still some slight discoloration underneath it, but it was a lot more conspicuous than before.

-B-

The rest of the week passed without incident. Edward had torn down all of my carefully built walls again. My butterflies were constantly fluttering about. And I was pretty sure my crush had officially bypassed the pre-teen term of a crush. Just in time for us to spend a week together in New York City.

The night before, I sat on the floor of our living room with Rose as she painted my nails a milky pink. She had been furious the night I told her about what happened, but I think she was more hurt that I didn't call her right away. Thankfully, after a night of Chinese food and trashy television, I was forgiven.

My bruise didn't last too long or get too horrendous, either. There was still a slight shadow over my nose, but it didn't hurt much anymore. I iced it as much as possible, which seemed to help.

"So, any plans for tomorrow?" Rose asked, instructing me to blow on one hand while she worked on the other.

"Just work," I shrugged.

"You cannot go to the most exciting city in the country just to work, Bella. If I don't get a selfie of you on top of the Empire State building or walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, I'm going to be pissed."

I chuckled at her intensity. "I'll see what I can do."

"Are you nervous, going with Edward?" she asked quietly, her mood doing a complete one-eighty.

"I don't know," I sighed. I didn't know anything these days. I was stumped on what else to do to help Edward and his image, mostly because I was constantly distracted whenever he was around. And I had no idea how I felt about him anymore. Because he was more than a pretty face. So much more, and my butterflies were starting to realize it.

And I knew I was getting to the point where I had to do something about it. I couldn't help Edward if I was constantly pining after him, and that wasn't fair to him. I was just still in the process of figuring out what I could do about it. Pretending to hate him certainty didn't work.

"How did you get over a crush?"

Rose chuckled. "You're not going to want to do what I did."

"Why?"

"Because it usually involved falling in to bed with another guy. Works wonders, but I don't think it's something you should do."

"Oh," I mumbled. "Maybe… when I get back you can find me someone."

Rose's eyes went wide, and I realized I didn't specify myself very well.

"For a date! Just a date."

"Okay," she added with a smile. "That sounds like a good idea."

We were peacefully quiet for a few minutes before Rose spoke again. "You're sure you're okay? After what happened Monday?"

I nodded. "Yes, I'm fine."

And I was. I was surprisingly fine. More fine than I should have been. And I knew the reason for it had messy bronze hair and crooked smirks and was one of the only people in the world who believed everything I had to say.

-B-

"Have you ever been to New York?" Edward asked me. We were in a car, stuck in New York City traffic, on our way to our hotel for the week. The flight had been blissful compared to what it could have been flying commercial. We were quiet most of the time, but it was peaceful.

It was already nearing four, our flight and constant changing time zones having taken up most of the day. I should have been exhausted, but the energy surrounding the city was giving me a nice buzz.

"No," I sighed, eyes daring every which way out the window. It was like night and day compared to Los Angeles. More metal and less palm trees. A different, hectic energy. It felt like it would be exhausting to live here, but a trip every now and then might be nice.

We pulled up to our hotel a minute later, and I made a conscious effort to keep my mouth from falling open. The show took care of booking arrangements, and they were obviously trying to make Edward happy. When I confirmed the bookings a few days ago I looked up pictures of the two suits and they were… a lot. A lot of money, a lot of rooms, a lot of everything.

I had never really been out in public with Edward. He was a celebrity, obviously. Even without his show Cullen was a household name. Still, he seemed very normal in every situation we had been in. Even when he walked out to cheers on his show, it just seemed like him, and not some unattainable celebrity I was watching on screen.

It was a bit of a shock, seeing the couple of photographers waiting outside of the hotel and hearing them call out his name. He simply kept his head forward and kept walking, so I did the same.

Our suites were side by side, though the doors surprisingly far apart compared to a regular hotel. The Ritz Carlton was obviously not a regular hotel, though. Edward had the Presidential Suite and mine was the much more modest Premiere Park Suite.

Edward's door came first while mine was farther down the hall. I gave him a small smile as I passed him, heading to my own room.

"Would you like to go to dinner?" he asked quickly, his voice seemingly unsure of himself. It was odd, coming from him. "Before we head to the show?"

"Sure," I answered, a little shocked at his invitation. I wasn't sure what I had planned to do for dinner, but the show didn't start filming until nearly midnight.

"What's your favorite kind of food?"

"Um, I like Italian?" I replied, sounding too unsure of myself as well.

Edward smiled softly down the hall at me. "Okay. I'll pick you up at eight," he said with a wink, walking into his room

I walked into my suite, a little dazed and confused. It was stunning, though. All warm neutrals and stunning views. I walked over to one of the windows and took a quick picture of the view of Central Park to send to Rosalie. There was a comfortable living room, a dining room that I was sure would never get used, a small kitchenette, and a beautiful bedroom that made me wish I wasn't going to be up until two in the morning.

My bag was already set neatly on a table inside the bedroom. I knew this trip was going to be hard. Especially after my conversation with Edward earlier in the week.

My childhood wasn't something I enjoyed talking about. When I was in school I saw a school therapist for a couple years. It helped a little bit, I supposed. She believed everything I told her and even offered to help me go to the authorities about it, but I didn't want any of that. She drilled into my brain that I wasn't as inconsequential to the world as I was led to believe. That my opinions mattered and that my parents were wrong.

Still. Even after hearing it repeated to me for years, it was hard to forget how insignificant I felt for a good ten years of my life. And how much it hurt when no one believed a single word I said.

Then, Edward came along and listened with intent and worried eyes. And he took care of me even when I told him he didn't have to. He cared and listened and believed and was one of about three people in my life who had done any of those things.

It made my crush much more than a crush. And, now, I was going to dinner with him. Alone. In New York City. Which would make my butterflies ecstatic. And probably be a bit like torture for me.

A/N: Little on the short side, but the next one will make up for it. I promise :)

Also, I got a lovely review from a guest basically saying what an idiot I am for putting the trigger warning in the last chapter at the bottom. There was, of course, a note at the beginning of the chapter urging anyone with triggers to scroll to the bottom for the warning before reading. That's how I typically do them, because the warnings can give away what the chapter is about.

Anyway. Thank you for all of your other kind reviews. I read and love every one of them. See you Friday!