A/N: Hello all! Today will be another double chapter post, because this chapter is pretty short. Regardless of the length, there is some important stuff, and some filler. This Bella is very strong, but she has so much stacking up against her now. There is a lot of tension, and this is a stressful situation so try not to judge. Seatbelts still on? Off we go!

Bella POV

You in the dark You in the pain You on the run Living a hell Living your ghost Living your end Never seem to get in the place that I belong... Silence is not the way We need to talk about it If heaven is on the way- Letting the Cables Sleep by Bush

Previously:

She handed me a piece of cream-colored paper and it was folded in thirds. I opened it and it read:

I see you. Soon

I dropped the piece of paper. It was Riley's handwriting.

"Where did you get that?" I asked Alice

"It was outside on the front porch. Someone rang the doorbell. I went to go check the door and no one was there, but that was."

"When?"

"When you and Edward were sleeping."

"Oh my god! He's watching me. Shit!"

Someone knocked on the door. Alice opened it and there was Edward. He saw me and immediately looked concerned.

"What's going on?" Alice picked up the paper and handed it to him. He looked at it. "What is this?"

"Riley left it on the front porch," I said with obvious panic.

"We don't know that Bella. Calm down."

"Don't tell me to calm down, Alice. That is his handwriting. He's out, and he promised to come after me and Em. Need I remind you what he did to me?"

"Seeing as how I didn't even know until today, maybe you do." She snapped. I looked at her as if she had slapped me. The angry tears started pooling, and I saw the look of regret on her face, but I didn't care. I turned away and walked out of the room, ran up the stairs to my room, then slammed the door.

Edward POV

I looked at Alice in shock. "Did that really just fucking happen?"

"I don't know why I said that." She said, tears sliding down her cheeks. "She is never gonna forgive me."

"I can't tell you whether or not she will, but I should go talk to her and you need to figure out how to make this right, Ali."

She nodded, and I left the room. I went upstairs to Bella's room. I knocked on the door expecting her to tell me to go away. She opened the door roughly. Her eyes were red and puffy. She looked very angry but still beautiful. Her face and posture softened when she saw it was me.

"Hey," I said

She turned, leaving her door open for me and sat on her bed. She looked at me as I walked over. I sat at her desk and wheeled her chair over to her bed. I sat facing her and the back of the chair.

"What's up?" She said

"I could ask the same."

"You heard her. Of all the things to throw in my face."

"She had no right to say that Bella, but I think that maybe she might be stressed. She's worried about you, and now this Riley thing. Do you know Jazz is pressuring her to move you guys so Riley can't find you?"

"Really?"

"Yeah, while you were…recovering he was here, and he wanted to move you guys out now. But you know Alice can't give this place up. He didn't push it because he knows what it means to her, but he wasn't happy."

She nodded. We knew what this house meant to her. This was her parent's house, and to her, it was all she had left of them. She got it when she turned 18, from her aunt and uncle who had taken care of her since her parent's death. I knew she wouldn't be able to give her house up and it would be stupid to ask. Bella looked at me.

"I'm worried, Edward. He's gonna come after us."

"I'm here, Bella."

"Not 24/7, and I don't expect you to be. I just don't know what to do."

I grabbed her hands in mine and looked her in the eyes. "If you need me anytime, day or night, I expect you to call me." I cradled her head in my hands. "What's between my hands is very important to me, and I expect you to do everything you can to keep yourself safe, and I will do everything I can. Deal?"

"Day or night?" She said smiling.

"Anytime."

"You got a deal."

"Good." She sighed and leaned into me. "What's wrong, Love?"

She smiled at my new name for her. "Alice. I hate fighting with her, but I didn't do anything wrong."

I started stroking her hair. "I know you didn't, but I have a feeling that she will be giving you an apology soon," I said because Alice was standing in the open doorway. I nudged Bella to look, and she turned and saw Alice. I smiled at Bella and excused myself from the room.

Alice POV

I looked at Bella and felt horrible all over again for what I said to her. Sure, I was stressed but that gave me no right to take it out on the one girl who was more a sister than a friend. I looked down at the floor and centered myself. Then I looked back up at Bella. She looked at me with confusion and hurt in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Bella. I shouldn't have said that. I have a ton of excuses, but none that make it better or ok. All I can say is sorry."

"Why did you say it?"

I sighed and sat on her bed. "Because I was so shocked you kept a huge thing from me. I was upset, and this whole Riley thing is kinda scary. Jazz wants me to move, but I can't do that. This was their home, so now it's mine."

"Yeah, I understand. I forgive you, Alice. Just please tell me your upset next time. That really hurt, and you know you can talk to me about anything."

I nodded. I knew that, of course. Bella looked like she was lost in thought. I nudged her and she smiled slightly, but as it had been since Riley it never reached her eyes. I hadn't seen my best friend truly smile in a year and a half, except when she smiled at Edward. Those two were in love, and it had been painful to see her that week she stopped talking to him. Bella nudged me, and I realized I had been zoning. I shook my head slightly and looked at Bella.

"Spacey much, Ali? I was asking you if you think it'd be a good idea, to not necessarily move, but not to be here when Riley shows up."

I looked at Bella and she actually looked scared. "Is he really that big a threat? I know what he did to you, but you don't think he'd be able to get past Ed or Jazz, do you?"

"Well maybe, but Edward and Jazz aren't gonna be around 24/7. They're boyfriends, not bodyguards."

I laughed, because of the look on her face. "Well, no they aren't, Bella, but don't you already know they'd do anything to keep us safe. Plus leaving will do no good. He already knows that we are here."

"I don't want you to be here!" She said harshly. I looked at her with a hurt expression, and I saw the anguish in her eyes and it staggered me. "I don't want what happened to me, to happen to you. And above it all, I don't want it to be my fault!" I heard footsteps coming upstairs. Edward must have heard Bella yelling. I reached over to touch her shoulder. She shrugged me off, got up from the bed, and started pacing. "You don't understand, Alice! This whole thing is my fault." She started crying. "He's after me, I was the one who refused to let him be sentenced for rape, and I refused to testify. If I would have been smarter and stronger he'd still be in jail." Bella fell to the floor and started sobbing. "It's my fault." She whispered.

I rushed over to her and gathered in a hug. I saw Edward come into the room. I shook my head, and he backed off. "Bella, no one blames you. No one is thinking clearly after something like that happens. You made mistakes, but we will get through it. If he tries to hurt any of us, he will go back to jail." I pulled away from her to look in her eyes. "Stop beating yourself up. This is not all on you. He messed up, he wouldn't take no for an answer, he did this. Not you and you need to stop carrying the burden of his fuck up. I love you, and so does Edward. You're better than this."

By that point, Bella's sobs had quieted, and she was biting her lip. "I don't want to be a victim anymore."

"Then stop being one," I said simply.

"I don't know how."

It made me give her a sad smile. She was so much stronger than I gave her credit for, and I told her so. "Bella, yes you do. You just have gone into hopeless mode since the news about Riley. You got into a relationship with Edward, which is a huge step. You're a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for. You can do this."

There was a soft knock on the door. Edward was standing in the doorway. "Alice, Jazz wants to talk to you. He said that he tried calling your phone."

I looked back at Bella. She nodded. "Go ahead. Take it." I gave her a kiss on the forehead and told Edward to tell Jazz I was gonna call him back. I left the room.

Bella POV

You know those days where you feel like from the moment you step out of bed it's gonna be really messed up? Today was one of those. I woke up half an hour late, burnt my toast, and showed up to class just as it was letting out. I was able to snag notes from a very helpful classmate. I was now at the school coffee shop, waiting for the hour until my next class. I decided to go over the notes from the class I just missed, keeping the coffee as far from the notes as possible. I read the notes and took them down in my own words. I was busy scribbling away when I heard my name being spoken by the sexiest voice alive.

"Hey, Bells." I looked up into those beautiful emerald pools, and my shitty morning no longer mattered. I smiled at Edward. "How's your morning been love?" He asked, sitting down. I groaned, he chuckled. "That good, huh?"

"It's been an epic fail from the moment I woke up. I woke up late because I woke up at 3 and couldn't fall back asleep until dawn, burnt my breakfast, and missed my first class." I said, waving my notes for emphasis. He just smiled and kissed the tip of my nose, then my lips. "You're in a good mood?"

"I am, and why not? It's nice outside, and I'm with my favorite girl."

I smiled sweetly at him. "Charming, what do you want?" I said jokingly. He smiled.

"Ok. You caught me." He hesitated for a moment. "I was talking to my mom last night, and she thinks that I need to bring you home for thanksgiving, in two weeks."

I was momentarily confused. "But, she already knows me. We grew up together, Edward."

"I know, which I told her. She says then we were just friends, now we are a couple. Come on, you know my mom, and she misses you. Plus, you know the food will be good. Em and Rose are gonna be there, and we can go see your dad."

I cringed; I hadn't been inside my dad's house since that night. He came and saw me in Seattle this past summer, and by the time I got out of the hospital the summer before I had to go home to get things in order before I started school. Dr. Foster told me that it was something I needed to face though, and I was sure with Edward there I would be ok. I forced a smile.

"Sounds great, hun."

He wasn't fooled. "What's wrong, love?"

I hesitated. "I haven't been inside my dad's house since it happened, but Dr. Foster says that I need to face it, and I assumed with you there I'd be ok."

"This may be a stupid question, but what are you unable to go back there?"

"It's not stupid. Mostly, it's fear. I feel like I'm gonna go back there, and it'll be just like I left it. Blood on the floor, on the bed, things knocked over. I feel like he's gonna jump out at me. I know logically none of that is true, it's just telling that to the fear to get through it."

"Bella," he started softly "I will be there for you the entire time, but I don't want you to do something if you're not ready. That would be the opposite of progress.

"I understand that, but it's of this is something I need to do. I miss my dad, and I grew up in that house. I need it to feel safe for me again. One more place where he can't touch me. Do you understand?"

He nodded. "I will be there for you."

I smiled. "So, now the important question. Who's driving?"

He chuckled and ruffled my hair. "I love you, silly girl."

A/N: So, Bella snapped. Ali snapped. And Edward just remained his adorable patient self. So, they will be headed to Forks in a few weeks (translation chapters lol.) Ok, so we have one more chapter posting today and it's a doozy. Laters, lovelies.