A/N: Here it is! Very late - my apologies for that. I had finals and they seemed to take over every spare second of time I had. I couldn't get around to editing this until this week. Finals are done now - yay! I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 15 – Secrets

EPOV

I sat next to Bella, her hand still clasped in mine as we waited for the knock on the door. I could sense that her anxiety was piquing, but there was nothing I could do to bring her any ease. This moment would be difficult – no matter how ardently we hoped Charlie would believe the story we had given him; it was unlikely that he wouldn't be suspicious.

I anticipated his reaction to seeing Bella. We had downplayed the seriousness of her injuries and I was certain that when Charlie saw her for himself he would realize that we did so in a deliberate attempt to keep him in the dark. At the time it was the only choice we had. Bella was refusing to be forthright and the wolves were involved. There was so little time to meet all of Bella's needs and every member of my family had been preoccupied. There hadn't been an opportune moment to address Charlie's role in all of this. So we did all we could to keep him at bay, knowing that there would be consequences later on, but willing to deal with them if it meant keeping Bella alive.

And here we were – at the precipice of confronting those consequences.

"He'll know…" Bella whispered, her eyes cast downwards as she pulled at the hem of the elegant and simple dress Alice had fitted her in.

I wasn't sure how to respond. Honesty felt most appropriate in this moment because lying to Bella wouldn't protect her from what was about to transpire.

"He might. But we've already devised a cover story in case he doesn't believe the original story," I offered, hoping that would bring her some ease.

"Do you really think he'll believe it?" She questioned, her voice quivering in the wake of her panic.

"Just allow Carlisle and I to explain, Bella. It will be fine. I promise you that." And I did. My promise was genuine. Even if Charlie questioned every facet of the story we'd told him I would do whatever it took to keep him safe and to safeguard Bella's secrets. I owed her that.

"Ok," she replied, resting her head against my shoulder as she exhaled slowly.

"That's it, love. It'll be alright," I assured her, placing a gentle kiss against her temple.

The knock we had been expecting never came – but a loud, frantic pounding did. The door rattled with the force of it and Bella's entire body stiffened at the sound. I watched as her eyes glazed over in shock and the colour drained from her body.

"Bella?"

Nothing. She wasn't responsive. She was dissociative. Something about Charlie's frantic pounding on the door had triggered a reaction in Bella that left her in a state of catatonia. I knew we had run out of time and there was no quick fix to this.

I stood, gently pulling her up with me and held her against me.

"You're safe, love. It's just me." I realized immediately that her mind had interpreted the banging and aggressiveness as a threat and that this had triggered her most primal instincts to take over the controls of her body.

She couldn't stay here – not like this. I pulled her into my arms and in seconds we were upstairs and tucked away in my bedroom. We stayed like this as I listened to the happenings downstairs, acutely aware that Charlie was much angrier and much more aggressive than we'd anticipated.

I could have guessed that he would be suspicious of our story – but there was something more to his anger.

I searched his thoughts and found that his anger was even more consuming than it had been in its physical manifestation.

He was subdued in the physicality of his body, his voice quiet though he spoke every word through tightly clenched teeth and his body was absolutely rigid with his rage. I tapped into the thoughts of Alice, Jasper, and Carlisle to see Charlie through their thoughts – and it was all the confirmation I needed.

Something wasn't right.

CarlislePOV

Charlie was pulsing with the force of his anger. From the moment he'd pulled up to our house in his cruiser I knew something wasn't right. The sound of his every moment was evidence of his rage, and it was impossible to miss the telltale signs that humans telegraphed in their body's.

The stomping and dragging of his feet. The elevated heart rate. The thin sheen of sweat that was covering his brow. His clenched fists and jaw.

He'd been amenable with Esme over the phone two days ago. And his phone call with me today was mostly agreeable, albeit a bit strained. He had been very anxious to see Bella but I hadn't detected any underlying emotional burden.

The presence of Charlie, standing here in front of me now was something entirely different. He was what could only be described as livid and there was no amount of reasoning with him that would calm him down.

Try as Jasper might it appeared that his gift was working, but not as well as we needed it to be. Or perhaps Charlie's anger was so impetuous that Jasper's effect was minimally noticeable.

"Chief Swan – I understand that you're upset and concerned for Bella's well-being but I assure you that she's been well-cared for in her time here," I explained, trying my best to remain calm and project that very emotion back at Charlie.

"Frankly, I don't care. She's my kid and its time I take her home," Charlie was speaking through gritted teeth, his hands firmly grasping a thin, white sheet of paper. He was holding on to it like it was some sort of lifeline, holding him in place.

I looked at Jasper and noticed that his eyes were fixated on the very same sheet of paper wedged in Charlie's vice-like grasp. He was as curious about its significance as I was.

"Where is she?" He ground out, his body humming with the force of his fury.

"She's upstairs – but she's resting right now." I had heard Bella's reaction to Charlie's entrance, and I knew that she had hyperventilated and subsequently collapsed. I heard the sounds of Edward pulling her into his arms and running her upstairs.

It wouldn't bode well for any of us were Charlie to see her in her current state of withdrawal and Edward knew this as well as I did. I was grateful that he had reacted with such haste and had removed Bella from a situation that would have, without a doubt, left her in more disarray than she could handle.

"I don't care if she's resting. I need to lay eyes on her," Charlie's voice was tight and raw and each word was spoken like a harshly dictated command.

"Chief Swan, please understand that we have Bella's best interest at heart – we're doing everything we can to keep take care of her."

Charlie's body tensed violently at my words and his reaction took us all by surprise.

"I need to see her. And I need to see her now," he whispered in a tone that would have been threatening and unnerving if I were human. Instead, it served more as an indicator of his emotional state than it did as an indication of any threat.

I thought for a moment, quickly calculating all of the possible options in this moment before deciding how to proceed.

"I understand. Let me show you upstairs." I heard Bella beginning to stir and I knew that there was no way we would be able to reasonably hold Charlie off any longer. It was unfortunate but we needed to deal with this now. There was no more prolonging the inevitable.

I led him upstairs, making sure to move at as leisurely a pace as possible.

We knocked on the door and in seconds Edward pulled it open, greeting me with a very stern and serious look on his face. I didn't need to see inside of Edward's mind to know that he wasn't thrilled at the prospect of Charlie going anywhere near Bella in his current state of anger. But he knew as well as I did that we couldn't keep him from her any longer.

Edward stepped aside as Charlie pushed his way through the door, throwing his chest forward in what I was sure was an attempt to knock Edward out of the way. It was a good thing Edward avoided Charlie because if he hadn't it would have meant several broken bones for him.

Bella was sitting upright on the edge of the bed, her eyes still glassy and her hair a bit tussled but looking similar to how she had when I'd left her in the sitting room with Edward before Charlie's arrival.

She stood to her feet, taking her time and biting back the grimaces of pain that were trying to break their way through her perfect façade.

Charlie's face was tight and filled with tension. And when he laid eyes on Bella some of that faded. He looked somewhat relieved.

But more prevalent than his relief was the anguish I saw there. I was sure Bella hadn't noticed it. He was doing everything in his power to conceal it, but it was there – ever present and alarming.

The corners of his mouth were downturned and tears were in the very early stages of beginning to well in the brims of his eyelids. It wouldn't have been noticeable to Bella or any other human, but vampires could easily detect human emotions before other humans could. We could see the small shifts and changes in a person's demeanor.

It this moment I could see that, on the inside, beneath the façade that Charlie was maintaining, was a profound turmoil.

"Hey Bells," he chimed, his voice tight with the effort he was exerting to hold his tears at bay.

"Hi dad," she smiled, moving towards him with her arms outstretched. He met her and pulled her into a gentle hug. So gentle, in fact, that it led me to believe that he knew that applying any more force than he already was would have meant aggravating some of the injuries Bella had that we were trying to conceal.

"How yah been, kid?" He asked, pulling away from her as he stared her up and down, surely taking mental stock of the changes he noted in her.

"I'm alright. I feel better," she offered, still smiling.

"That's good…" he paused, holding her at arms length as he looked her up and down "you look pretty banged up, Bells. What happened?"

The quiver in his voice was unmistakeable and from the look on Bella's face, I could see she had noticed it, too.

"I fell. I wasn't paying attention… and I fell. But I'm alright. Emmett and Jasper found me and Dr. Cullen took care of me and I'm starting to heal. I feel much better than I did a few days ago…"

Charlie reached a hand up and ghosted it over her face, tracing along the long gash that was torn across her face, his eyes surveying the extensive swelling and horrible bruising that outlined the cut.

"How'd that happen?" He asked, his voice soft – unusually soft.

Bella inhaled sharply and pulled away, trying to mask her reaction with a small smile.

"I hit it against a rock…"

Charlie looked at her, catching her eyes for a moment and I saw there, swimming in the depths of his deep brown eyes, a plethora of pain that was reserved for the bond a parent had with their child.

I realized that the depth of his hurt could only be mirrored by Edward's.

It was consuming.

But, for whatever reason, he remained silent. He didn't pursue it any further. He left it as it was and accepted Bella's story exactly as she'd relayed it to him.

But Edward and I knew.

We knew that Charlie was holding back.

He was preserving something – holding space for Bella and whatever narrative she wanted to create around what had happened to her.

I was desperate to know what Edward had found in his thoughts but it was impossible to determine in front of Charlie. There was no way to ascertain the truth in front of him that wouldn't alert his suspicions.

"You look real skinny, Bella. Have you been eating?" Charlie questioned as the four of us made our way downstairs. Bella was inconspicuously braced against Edward's side as we made our way down and I could see from the way he was holding her that he was supporting most, if not all, of her weight, trying to alleviate some of the pain she felt with movement.

She was doing an excellent job of controlling her reactions. My heart felt saddened knowing this… and I idly wondered how she'd become so adept at hiding things.

And then it clicked. She was proficient at it because she'd been hiding so much for so long and her ability to conceal it was what had kept her alive.

I heard Edward growl lowly behind me, only loud enough that I would hear and I realized he'd been monitoring my thoughts and where they were taking me had disturbed him greatly.

"Can I get you anything to eat or drink, Chief Swan?" I asked as he followed us into our family sitting room. He shook his head and sat down on the seat opposite Bella, his eyes never leaving her body as he did.

"No. I'm alright."

We sat and conversed this way for a few more minutes, Bella directing most of the conversation as she asked Charlie how work was and asked if he'd spoken to Renee about what happened to her.

He hadn't and his rationale had been the same as hers the first time she'd ever visited Forks hospital – when Tyler had almost crashed into her with his van. Renee would overreact – she'd worry too much and it wasn't worth involving her unless it was life or death.

Bella chuckled when Charlie said that and I saw a light enter both his and Edward's eyes as she did. Her happiness was directly correlated to their own.

Once the conversation had naturally lulled Charlie turned to me, his eyes locked onto mine.

"I need to take her home now," he explained. It wasn't a question or a gentle suggestion. He was telling me that this is what he wanted and this is how it would be.

I braced myself for what would come next as I watched Edward stiffen next to Bella.

"I understand your eagerness, Chief Swan. I really do. However, Bella's condition hasn't stabilized a point yet where I would feel comfortable discharging her from my around the clock care," I explained, keeping my voice as even an controlled as possible.

"What's wrong with her coming home? What can she get here that I can't give her at home?" Bella's face blanched as Charlie spoke and her hands tightened into fists against her sides.

"My care, for one. The care of a doctor that is completely and solely dedicated to her recuperation and healing. As per our discussion on the phone, Bella suffered some head trauma that needs close monitoring." Charlie stood stock still, his eyes still trained on mine as he mulled over the thoughts in his head.

I knew what his response would be when I saw Edward's body relax from my periphery.

"Is this ok with you Bells?"

Bella nodded once in response.

"Fine."

He stood and Bella mirrored his movements. He pulled her into a brief hug and cleared his throat.

"I'll be back to visit you. And I'll talk to Dr. Cullen here about figuring out when you can come home," he said, his voice shaky and ragged again.

Bella nodded, her eyes holding Charlie's and I could see tears brimming there.

Before she could control them the tears slipped past the brim and fell down her terribly bruised cheek. Charlie groaned and swiped at the falling tears, wordlessly pulling her back into his arms. And then he let her go, placed a soft kiss on her forehead and turned on his heel to face Alice who had suddenly appeared in the doorway midway through Charlie's conversation with Bella.

"Alice, she needs her rest. Would you take her back upstairs for me?" Alice cocked an eyebrow in mine and Edward's direction and I saw Edward nod almost imperceptibly.

"Sure thing, Chief Swan. It was good to see you – though hopefully, our next encounter is on better terms." Alice danced her way over to Bella and pulled Bella's hand into her own, leading her toward the stairway.

Bella looked confused, tired and defeated.

I wasn't sure how many of the nuanced moments of the conversation that she'd picked up on, but my guess, knowing her, was that she caught a fair bit of it.

But she didn't object. She walked behind Alice, taking her time so as not to aggravate her healing body.

And then we were left there, alone in the sitting room with Charlie.

Charlie stood statue still, then dug into the pocket of his jacket, pulling the crumpled piece of white paper from it and holding it upright in the palm of his hand.

"What in the hell happened to my daughter?" He growled out, his voice low and menacing.

Edward caught my eye and advanced toward Charlie but stopped partway there.

"Let's speak outside, Chief Swan."

Wordlessly we all followed Edward out to the front stoop of our home.

Charlie advanced toward him and shoved the piece of paper against his chest. I moved next to Edward and read it over as he did.

Charlie,

Sorry to be the one that has to tell you, but your precious little girl is no more than a whore. You'll be pleased to know that while her freakshow lover was away I took very good care of her. Now that he's back, she has no use for me anymore. But that doesn't mean I can't think of a few good ways to use her.

I know she'll never forget me – not for as long as she lives. I'll be the star in all of her waking and sleeping moments.

-P

Edward's entire body was rumbling as he actively worked his hardest to suppress the growl that was building deep within his body. My reaction was similar, though my control was a bit more intact. I knew that this was triggering the most primal of Edward's instincts and not only was he having to quell his anger, but react to in it in a way that a human would expect another human to.

It was difficult beyond measure. So much of Edward's reaction to protecting his mate was primordial and animalistic. My reaction would be no different were something to happen to Esme. Usually, we could respond however we needed to, no curbing necessary. But in the presence of humans – this human especially – we were required to be as careful as possible.

"Edward," I admonished, my voice low. He glanced at me and the look in his eyes was pure rage.

Terrifying.

Charlie's face was a reflection of that. His body was reacting unconsciously to the presence of Edward and his animalistic fury. His defense mechanisms were on full alert and his body was primed to react as it was made to: fight or flight.

I had to intervene and I had to do it quickly.

"Edward, either you get a grip or you leave. I know for Bella's sake you'll want to partake in this particular conversation – so pull yourself together, son." My voice was stern and I was exerting every morsel of alpha of our coven as I could.

It was working.

Edward was beginning to calm. The look in his eyes was moving from terrifying to threatening. He was slowly regaining composure.

Charlie watched, silently. He observed our exchange in complete silence, his defense mechanisms still on red alert.

"Where did you get this?" I asked, softness permeating through the rage in my voice.

Charlie groaned, scratching at the stubble on his chin.

"It was in my mailbox at work this morning…."

"Oh…" I looked at Edward, telegraphing my thoughts to him as clearly as I could.

He evaded our defenses somehow. He's not working alone. There is no way he would have slipped past Sam's pack, Rosalie, and Emmett. Impossible.

I knew Edward had heard me but he avoided reacting.

"This… what does this mean to you?" Charlie asked, pressing against the red alerts in his body to press for answers.

"Chief Swan…" I started, unsure of what to say but knowing that we were trapped now.

"Did you think I wouldn't know?"

Yes, we did. Because he hadn't. This had been happening under his nose for over a month and he hadn't known.

I prayed to God that Edward wouldn't say that aloud, for I knew he was certainly thinking it.

"You didn't know."

There it was. Charlie's eyes widened and his face began to redden – his rage amplifying.

"What does that mean?" He ground out.

"It means that Bella's been hurt for longer than a few days and you didn't know. You were right there – living with her the entire time and you did nothing. You knew nothing. Of course we thought you wouldn't notice – because you hadn't noticed for over a month."

Charlie almost doubled over, the wind knocked out of him at Edward's admission. Again, tears began to brim on his eyelids but he swatted at his eyes, trying to force their retreat.

"And you? What about you? What about what you did to her?"

"I know what I did. And I'll never forgive myself for it."

They both stopped, staring at each other in silence. Not a word was spoken between them in their silence but they were communicating clear as ever. They both held themselves responsible, they both figured they had failed Bella in some way.

"Blame won't do us any good right now," I explained, placing a hand on Edward's shoulder in a show of support.

"Nobody here is to blame except for the person that did this to Bella."

"And who's that?" Charlie fumed, grinding his teeth together insidiously.

I looked at Edward. We both knew what was to come. We couldn't lie this away, but we would have to figure out a way to keep Charlie from pursuing this on his own.

"Paul Lahote," Edward snarled as he folded the small, white sheet of paper and tucked it into his pocket.

"Paul? From the res?"

"Yes."

"How do you know?" Charlie pressed, his demeanor growing colder and colder with each passing second.

"It was confirmed for us by Jacob Black," I remarked, surveying both Edward and Charlie to make sure they weren't losing control of their anger.

"I'll kill him." Charlie's voice was hollow and empty.

And I knew that he meant it.

"That's not an option," I supplied, standing resolute in front of the two men that were crumbling in front of my very eyes.

I could see it – the depth of their pain. The consuming nature of it. The way they held themselves responsible was sure to wear away at them, it was sure to corrode them from the inside out.

"Where is he?" Charlie insisted, ignoring my previous statement.

"Gone," Edward replied.

"Gone?" Charlie was incredulous.

"He knew that we would be coming for him," Edward explained, his eyes fixated on a tree off in the distance. He was trying to maintain his composure.

"He couldn't have gone far. He left this in my mailbox this morning. He's around. And I'm going to find him. Maybe I can't kill him, but I can end his life in other ways. I'll put him away for life. He'll never see the light of day again."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible, Charlie."

Charlie's eyes cast downward and he groaned again, clearly knowing what I was alluding to.

"He raped her, right?" Charlie asked. Edward's jaw tensed so forcefully I thought it might shatter.

"Yes, he did," I answered.

"And she didn't get a rape kit, did she?" Edward shook his head. Charlie was looking at me now, livid, questions evident in his eyes.

"I had to respect her wishes, Charlie. I couldn't make those decisions for her. Even now, having this conversation with you – it's breaking the trust she's placed in me."

"What trust? You're not her damn father!" He shouted, his brows so deeply furrowed the apex of each were coming together to form a singular, solid line.

"Of course I'm not, but I am her doctor. And she's entrusted her physical well-being to me. I take that responsibility very seriously."

Charlie thought for a moment and then nodded.

"How many times?"

Edward and I both paused at the question. This was heading into territory we both wanted to avoid with Charlie.

"I believe the rest of her story is for her to share with you, if and when she's ready."

He scoffed and his hand came to rest across his forehead.

"I need to know… is she ok? Physically… is she ok?"

I knew what he was alluding to, and I felt it important to answer him as honestly as I could while safeguarding Bella's privacy.

"Physically, she'll be fine. She's healing well. She allowed a basic examination of all of her injuries and I'm confident she'll heal from all of them."

"God dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit," Charlie croaked, his voice a haunting octave of grief.

"I'm sorry, Charlie. I truly am. I would give anything to change this for her, to have protected her from this."

"He's still out there. I can't leave her knowing that he's out there and he could hurt her again. I have to protect her now." Charlie was worn. His face was pulled down in anguish and his voice was strained with the weight of his suffering.

"I'll protect her. I'd give my life for her a million times over. I will make sure, with my life, that nothing ever happens to Bella again. You have my word. I won't leave her sight for even as second as long as he's out there." Edward's voice was filled with powerful resolution.

I could see that Charlie believed him. By some miracle, Charlie trusted Edward with this. I wasn't sure if it was instinctive – if he could sense that Edward was dangerous and capable of protecting Bella, or if he was just certain that Bella wouldn't be harmed as long as she was never alone. There was no way for me to know if he understood how dangerous Paul could be – or how dangerous Edward could be for that matter.

But this was what we were left with. On either side, we had to part with only the trust in each other that we had developed today. Bella's safety was paramount to all of us, and we each had a role in ensuring it.

Charlie's role, though he might not know it, was to stay as far out of the path of danger as possible. He needed to be nowhere near anything supernatural for as long as we could possibly avoid it. Removing him from this equation – keeping him distracted enough and confused enough that he couldn't get a lead of Paul meant more for protecting Bella than any patrol he could ever do would.

Charlie was, in this instance, almost useless. He was a police officer, but he was not equipped to deal with wolves. In this case, his presence was more a hindrance that it was an attribute. We would have to actively brainstorm ways to keep him as far out of the loop as possible.

Had it not been for Paul's note, we would have never shared as much with him today as we had. But Paul had left that note intentionally – this is what he wanted. He wanted Charlie in the middle of all of this. He didn't want us to be able to afford him the protection of ignorance.

And of course, above all else, this was the most effective way to harm Bella without having to be anywhere near her. He could torment her from afar. Reveal her secrets and contribute to the upheaval of her life in the most torturous ways possible.

I had a feeling this wouldn't be the last of it.

Charlie cleared his throat and shoved his hands into the pockets of his trousers.

"I gotta go…" he turned to face me "take care of my girl," he warned. "I want a phone call every day with updates on how she's doing. And I'll visit in the next couple of days. I wanna give her some space… I don't wanna overwhelm her, y'know?"

"That's a wise idea, Chief."

"How long do you think… before she can come back home?"

"I'm not certain. In the very least I'd like to see her back to full health, with most of the weight she lost gained back. Once we reach that point I think we can sit down and re-evaluate the arrangements."

"Alright. And… there's more, isn't there?"

I cocked an eyebrow at him, unsure of what he meant.

"The turtleneck… the long sleeves… she's hiding it?"

"Yes, she is," Edward replied "but Carlisle is aware of the details of all of her injuries and is caring for her as best he possibly can. She's in excellent hands – the best hands, really," he reassured.

And with that, Charlie walked down the stairs and jumped back into his cruiser, taking off down the gravel road. And as if right on cue, the sound of a deep, sorrowful wail pierced through the silence as Charlie reached the highway. He had waited, it seemed, to fall to pieces. He waited until he was alone, out of earshot of Bella and the rest of us.

My heart ached for the man. Knowing what he knew, the helplessness he must have felt, especially in wanting to protect Bella but in knowing that she couldn't return home with him. That it wasn't what was best for her. That he wasn't what was best for her.

I was eager to speak with Edward, to glean from him what I could about Charlie's emotional state. I was also eager to admonish him and chastise him for placing blame on Charlie as he had.

But it would have to wait because before I could speak Edward had pushed his way past me and ran upstairs to be with Bella again.

BPOV

"You're so quiet, love. Is everything ok?" Edward placed a tender hand against my knee, his eyes searching for mine as he spoke.

"I'm ok," I reassured him, swallowing down the lie, hoping he wouldn't press for more. He eyed me curiously.

"Bella…" he reproved, his eyes softening as they always did when he spoke to me.

"I'm fine, really."

"You're not," he replied, leaning forward on the bed to grab a cup of water from the night stand. He handed it to me, waiting for me to drink from it.

"I can feed myself, thank you very much," I snapped, taking a long sip of water before pushing the cup back into his hand. I knew I was being petulant, but I was growing so tired of the motions of being here. I knew as soon as he walked in the room after Charlie left that he was withholding so much from me.

He wore the heaviness of the conversation on his body as plainly as one could. He attempted to conceal his true feelings, but it was as though he had laid them bare for me.

I was sure he wasn't that easy to read to everyone else – but only to those that knew him well. And I knew Edward well.

"Sorry love, I didn't mean to irritate you," he offered, smiling at me as he placed the cup back on the night stand.

I scoffed and pulled the covers up and around my body as I slowly sank down into a reclined position, suppressing a groan at the familiar bursts of fiery pain that shot through me.

"You're hurting…"

"I'm fine!"

"You're not – I can see that you're uncomfortable. We can give you a bit more medication tonight, Bella. There's no need to suffer through this," Edward explained and I watched as he glanced toward the door, preparing to call Carlisle.

"No…"

He looked at me, his eyes soft as ever and sighed.

"This isn't necessary. We can make this more manageable for you – why do you insist on pushing through it?"

That was it. That was my threshold. I felt the thin lines of tolerance shred within me and all pretences were suddenly dropped.

"Why do you insist on treating me like I'm a child?!" I shouted. I hadn't meant to shout, but it came out that way all the same. Edward was perfectly still as his eyes searched my own in confusion.

"Stop doing that," I shrieked, and the shock in his face amplified.

"Bella… I don't understand?"

"Stop searching for the hidden clues to all of this in my face. Stop looking at me like I'm a tiny, fragile human that could break any second!"

"Bella…"

"Don't admonish me, Edward. I'm not a child. I'm not YOUR child. And yet here I am, being treated like I'm a foolish kid."

"I'm sorry if that's the way I've made you feel, love. What can I do to fix it?"

He was so reasonable. His voice was gentle, patient and calm. He looked unphased by my outburst, still in perfect control of himself and his emotions.

It was rage-inducing.

How long would he try to hide this from me? I knew the moment I saw Charlie turn to Alice that there was more – something he wasn't telling us. I knew that his careful handling of me was because he believed the extent of my injuries was much worse than the Cullen's had told him. I knew he didn't buy the story we'd tried to sell him.

But how?

Charlie was perceptive, but not that perceptive. After all, I'd been able to hide this from him for weeks… what changed?

"You want to fix it?"

Edward nodded, his brow creased in confusion.

"You can tell me the truth."

"The truth?"

"Yes. Tell me what Charlie knows."

And there it was: the crack that I'd been waiting for. The crack in Edward's picture perfect resolve was shining through. I watched as his face fell in shock, horror spreading across the perfect planes of his face.

It was subtle, but to me, it was everything.

I knew that he was keeping something from me, but now that I was seconds away from uncovering what that was I was petrified of what I might find hidden in his lies.

He looked at me with an expression I could only describe as apologetic. His eyes were soft, but blazing with a pain that made my breath catch in my chest, holding there as I tried to push past the intensity of this moment.

"Edward…" My voice was barely above a whisper because I couldn't muster anything else.

I was afraid.

"I'm sorry…" he said, his words hollow and filled with darkness.

"Sorry?"

"For failing you," he explained, his head dropping down, chin meeting his chest as his shoulder rose with what I assumed was his attempt at composing himself.

"Failing me?" I didn't understand. This didn't make sense.

"Yes. I failed you. I left when I should have stayed. I didn't place enough trust in you to allow you to decide whether or not you wanted me in your life – the risk of me and all that it brought. And so I left, presumptuously."

His voice was harrowing – his pain tormenting me as I searched his face, trying to connect with him in the only way I could right now.

"How is any of this your fault?" I was incredulous, the suggestion that Edward was responsible for this made my stomach queasy. Edward was as far removed – as far outside of this – as a person could be. Mixing him with what happened… it made me feel ill.

"I left you, Bella. Alone. I left you here, without my protection. When we started our relationship it was then that I brought you into the folds of my life and all that it entails, and in the midst of chaos I left you alone, foolishly believing that would mean you were safe. And then…"

"Stop it," I commanded in a low whisper. But it was as though he hadn't heard me at all. He pressed on, his voice growing more resonating with each passing second.

"And then he… hurt you. And if I'd been here I could have protected you. I would have protected you. I'm so sorry, Bella. I know I'll never forgive myself, and I expect you feel the same way."

And in seconds Edward went from sitting next to me on the bed to standing, his back facing me as he slowly paced the length of the room.

"Edward," I called out to him, trying to interrupt his frantic pacing, trying to regain his focus.

"EDWARD," I shouted and immediately regretted the decision to do so. A deep ache settled in my throat, flames of pain licking at it with fervor.

But it had worked. Edward's entire body swirled and then he was facing me, the heaviness of his pain etched into every contour of his body.

"You think this is your fault?" I stood from the bed, gripping on to the bed post to maintain the unreliable balance of my worn body.

"Did you do this to me?" I murmured, gesturing to bruised, thin body. Edward's brow furrowed as he listened to me speak.

"Bella…"

"Stop. Listen," I chastised "you left me, Edward. You shattered my heart into thousands of pieces and left me with nothing of you to even hold me through some of the hardest days of my life. I grieved you so intensely I thought I might crack in half from the force of the pain…"

I wanted to stop myself, because the look of sorrow on Edward's face was heartbreaking all over again. But I couldn't. The suggestion that he was responsible for what happened to me was too much. I couldn't bear it.

"But what he did…" I choked over the words as I felt a sob barrel through me, catching me off guard as I tried to force it back down inside of me.

But the tears fell anyway.

"He destroyed me. He wounded parts of me that might never be made whole again. But that isn't your fault," I explained, my voice taut with the strain of my tears.

"Bella…" Edward whispered, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.

"You didn't do this," I explained, gesturing once again to my battered body "and you have to stop suggesting that you had some part in it. Because that's painful for me. I can't hold you and him in the same place in my mind because it'll destroy me all over again. What you did – I can forgive that. I can learn to trust you again… I can rebuild those pieces of myself. But I can't ever rebuild the pieces of me he destroyed."

I was gasping through the freely falling tears, swiping at them but they were falling too fast for me to have any effect. I wanted to collapse right where I was standing. I wanted to fall to my knees and curl up into a ball and stay that way for a very long time. Because this pain was so hard and overwhelming that I didn't want to face it anymore.

And then Edward, ever the fulfiller of my needs, pulled me into his arms, walked across the room and sat on the couch, pulling me into his lap, wrapping me in the safety of his arms.

"I'll keep you safe now, love."

I nodded against his chest.

"No more lies?"

"Bella…"

"No," I demanded "no more lies. I can't learn to trust you again if you aren't honest with me," I peeked up from his chest and looked into his eyes, reveling in their beauty.

Edward looked tormented. I knew that whatever he was about to tell me would be painful. But I'd pressed for this and there was no going back.

I needed to know.

I needed to be the determiner of my own future.

He shifted me gently forward on his lap and reached into the pocket of his pants, pulling out a folded, white piece of paper. He clenched it in his fist and dragged a hand across his forehead in frustration.

I placed my hand on top of his fist and pulled at his fingers, and he unfolded the fist, the white sheet of paper sitting neatly in the palm of his hand.

I looked up at him, my eyes surely filled with terror.

His hand reached up and brushed through my hair, and then he pulled my forehead against his.

I pulled the paper from his palm and slowly unfolded it.

"I'm sorry," he whispered one final time.

And then I braced myself.

A/N: Very curious to hear your reactions to Charlie and his reaction. There is so much more to come, and as I said the intensity will keep picking up with every chapter. Of course, I'm a slow burner so 'picking up' for me is not the same as it might be for other writers. But it'll be more intense than this story has been thus far.

Tell me what you think! This was hard to get through because I was incredibly distracted by studying and my brain was a bit fogged up as I tried to wade through the details.

I'd love to post again this week - reviews make me edit the chapters faster!

xx

-missmarlee