Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Thanks to the lovely TwiDi for cleaning up my mess :) Check out her story You Don't Know Anything *hint it's in my favs ;).

Chapter 6

"So…" She gently said.

"Yeah, I'm drawing a blank as to where to start too." He grinned and she shyly giggled.

Bella couldn't believe she was nervous of Edward. This was Edward, not some stranger she was on a first date with. Edward was the only man to know her completely and intimately. He was the keeper of her secrets for so many years and the father of her child. The man-child that she had once loved was still there inside of him somewhere. But oddly, he was hidden behind the presence of this man. Edward Cullen the man, the super star was in fact a stranger to her. She shook her head slightly and pulled herself together.

"Here." She pulled an envelope out of her purse and put it on the dashboard. "That is the letter I wrote you the day Emma was born. You never got it, because the person I gave it to, to mail "forgot" to mail it." She didn't know why but she felt it was important that he knew that once upon a time she had tried to tell him.

"I'll read it later." He was shocked. He was also very aware that either Maggie or Rose was probably the one who had been given the task to mail him the letter. That one of them had made the decision for him and Bella that he shouldn't know about his daughter. He could tell that Rose at the very least was a completely different person than the sweet loving girl he knew. She was harder, bitter and seemed to hate anyone with a penis.

"It was a year before I knew that you didn't get the letter. When I found out, I thought maybe it was for the best. Emma always knew who you are and I've known for a while that she wanted to meet you." Bella took a breath and then hurried on, "I even went to a concert of yours once to tell you, but…" Her voice drifted off and her mind slipped back in time.

Edward was shocked, he always wondered if that night she was really there. He had felt her presence the whole time he'd been on stage. It had been years since that night, but he could remember it like it was yesterday. He could also guess why Bella hadn't approached him. Alice. Ali had shown up crying and a complete mess; and being her friend, Edward had of course let her stay backstage and tried to calm her. Bella probably had taken one look at Alice and ran.

He knew Bella hated Alice, she hated him for Alice. He hated himself for the way he handled the situation with Alice. Over one woman and a stupid favor for his brother, he lost so much. He lost the future he had dreamed of. He'd lost his world. He lost the first few years of his daughter's life. Edward wasn't sure he'd ever forgive himself.

"I came back here about a week after you ran out. I wanted to give you time to cool off, so I could talk to you and explain everything. I kept telling myself to let you cool off and everything would be fine." He laughed bitterly, "God, the vain bastard that I was just knew you'd be curled up somewhere crying. I was going to tell you the truth and tell you I loved you more than anything that then you'd fall back into my arms and follow me anywhere." He looked into her furious brown eyes and knew he'd said too much too soon.

"I was busy living my life, Edward. You turned me so cold that I didn't even cry." She had cried many nights, but there was no way she was letting him know that. "I had just buried my Dad, Edward. And in that same period of time, I buried my hopes, my dreams and everything that we had. When Alice Brandon came out of that room you died to me too." Bella felt cold inside of the car's heated interior. The flash of that dreadful day chilled her to the bone.

"Kitten." He said harshly like it was ripped from his throat. He reached for her knee and cringed when she pulled away from him. None of this was like he expected it to be. "Bella, we were kids, we didn't know what life could throw at a person and you had a land slide of bad come at you, but…" She stopped him with a wild laugh.

"You bastard!" She screamed. "Landslide of bad? My whole damn world crashed around me in less than three months. I lost the two men I loved and trusted the most; and in order to protect my child, I ended up in a one bedroom apartment with Maggie and Felix. I worked, went to school and raised a child all at the same time, Edward. Over the past six years you have become rich, famous and a critical success. All of your dreams came true, all of them handed to you by a beautiful talented woman, all you had to do was be her man-whore and crush me. So tell me, Edward, was it worth it?" Anger poured from her, he could tell that one wrong word and he'd be roasted.

"Bella, Alice didn't give me everything. If I didn't have talent, I would just be one of the many thousands of wanna-be singers and song-writers that come to Nashville everyday who never get a chance." Edward pulled the car off the road into the driveway of an old empty house. "I have to check on something here. Come on in and we can continue our talk without the worry of wrecking the car." He smiled slightly.

"Edward, why the hell are we at the old Banner place?" Bella took in the old place. Its peeling paint, rotting wood and its over all less than stellar upkeep. She couldn't figure out why the hell Edward would want to be here.

"Business, Kitten. I'm also in real estate investments. I bought this place, or should I say I'm going to after giving it one more go over before making my final decision. Though, this one isn't for resale." He said unlocking the door.

Bella felt a chill go up her spine. Was Edward buying this place to live in himself or for someone else? "Edward, what is this house for then?" She tentatively inquired of him.

"Can't say, Bella, it's a surprise in a way." He smiled to himself. Bella hated surprises and he knew it. She could wait a little bit longer, he though. Seeing her squirm could be funny. And he held in a laugh as she stomped her foot. He knew she was about to go off on a tangent.

"Edward, this is absurd. Emma has me and your life really has no room for a child. There's really nothing to discuss, we should just go on living the way we have been. You and Emma can call or write each other. Maybe visit one another once or twice a year. Then, when she is old enough she can stay a few weeks during the summer with you." The words poured out of her in a nervous rant. Edward stood there staring at her like she had two heads and a tail.

"Bella, you agree she and I should have contact and that is a step in the right direction. But, I think that our child," he stressed the word our, "should see both of her parents whenever she likes." Her mouth dropped open and he laughed internally at the adorable fish like quality she took on with the bulging eyes and the mouth opening and shutting as she tried to speak.

"No!" She screamed and ran up the old stair case in an effort to get away from him. Of course, being Bella, instead of using the door and running outside she ran up the stairs. Though, her only thought was to get away from Edward.

The old stairs creaked and moaned under her slight weight as Bella bounded up. Edward stood there for a moment in shock that she just took off like that. This was the second time in less than forty-eight hours that Bella had run away from him.

Bella knew it was childish of her to run but her self preservation instinct had kicked in and it said run.

It took Edward a minute but he took off after her running full-speed up the stairs. "Bella, come on, how old are you?" He stopped suddenly. He stood still as the pain in his ankle erupted. The pain was like an old arch nemesis returning at the worst possible time. "Bella!" He screamed in pain and anguish.

She stood in the master bedroom frozen. Was this a trick? He sounded as if he was dying, "Edward?" Bella called.

"Bella, I'm on the stairs, come help me, Kitten." His voice was filled with a pain so real that she knew it to be real. She quickly made her way to the stairs looking at his face bunched in pain and sweat beads lining his forehead.

"Edward, what happened?" Bella asked as she leaned down to his side touching gently his hand that was resting on his left ankle.

"I've reinjured my left ankle." He sigh was pain filled. "Last year, I broke it during a concert and it seems I've irritated the old injury." Bella grimaced.

"Didn't you break that ankle during our seventh grade verses eighth grade baseball game, back when we were in seventh?" His eyes found humor as he remembered that day.

"If I remember it right, you broke my ankle that day. If I hadn't had to rush and then jumped into the bleachers where Mr. Humphrey had you 'safely' placed to save you from falling and killing yourself, I wouldn't have ended up in a cast. The fact that you fell on me instead of the ground; being the main cause." Bella laughed out loud, she could remember that day clearly. He had stopped her from breaking her own neck and caused himself a ton of pain. Though, she was happy that she had distracted him from his pain at the moment.

"Edward, we need to get you to the car and then to the doctor." Bella knew it was coming before it happened. Edward cringed and tried to hide his pain like he always did when the word doctor was brought up, the big baby. "Be a man, Edward." Bella said mocking tone that echoed his father's tone.

"Only if you'll be a woman." Edward whispered seductively at her and drew her into his arms. Disarmed for a moment, she responded to his exploring kiss. God, he tasted like home and Edward.

"Edward." She moaned into his mouth. His hands were working their way up under her sweater, "Edward." She came to her senses barely in time. His hands were already starting work on her bra.

"What?" His emerald green eyes darkened with his passion. His voice husky and sexy as sin.

"Edward Anthony Cullen!" She pushed him off. "Damn you! You always have done this. Try and get me to stop thinking with sex and making me bend to your will! Well, not this time." She screamed at him.

Edward was stunned by what just happened. For a moment, he was seventeen again, sitting in their cabin with his only thought and desire being Bella in his arms. Hot, wet and ready for him. "Kitten." He whispered hoarsely at her back. God, could it be that he still loved her? Or was it the memory of her that he was in love with. His head couldn't figure it out. Maybe he loved the past and the present.

"Shut up, Edward, just shut up." She turned her brown eyes blazing into his green. "You wanted to talk, so we'll talk." Pacing to the bottom of the stairs with Edward hobbling beside her slowly. Bella was determined to tell him exactly what had been building in her for six long, lonely and extremely hard years.

"Bella?"

Edward was both hurt that she pushed him away and confused. He wasn't used to feeling the latter. Pain he knew all too well, be it of the heart, body or mind. Confusion… was something her rarely felt.

Bella helped him over to the sofa that had one of those white dust covers on it. She helped to set him down and get comfortable, the whole time her anger bubbled in her brown eyes.

"Six years ago, Edward. Six damned years ago, I wouldn't have had the strength to tell you what I am going to tell you today." She let out a long breath and Edward went to speak, but she quickly shut him up with a look. "Where should I start?" She asked herself talking out loud. She walked to the old bay window and stared out. The fresh snow looked as cold as she felt inside. Taking another fortifying breath, she turned to face the man who once been her whole life.

"Bella?" Edward said again in a harsh whisper. He was getting worried about her. She was wound so tight, that if she got any tighter she'd break.

"Edward, when I got to Nashville that day I had twelve grand and all my hopes and dreams with me. When I left, I had seed money for a baby, myself and two others to make a new start and not much else. The unpractical side of me that dared to dream was you; and with you gone, it died. I've only done one stupid thing since the last time I saw you' and that was to date James because he seemed the complete opposite of you."

"Bella, we don't have to do this now." He just wanted her to calm down, but she turned and glared at him.

"When he found out about you, I could see dollar signs in his eyes. He thought you might want to pay child support or a nice lump sum pay-off for Emma. He could care less about my feelings and after four months of battles, Momma called. She needed me here and I left James behind." Bella gave Edward a grim look. "Now, he keeps calling and I'm tempted to get a restraining order. I just thank God I never married him, or gave in to his idea to adopt her or to tell her that he was now her daddy."

Edward agreed with that. The stupid man had called him wanting money and offering Emma as a bartering prize. But why had Bella kept her boyfriend before knowing his true nature from being Emma's father figure? And why hadn't she married him? "Bella, why didn't you let him play daddy? Why didn't you marry him?" Edward pondered not realizing he had asked that question out loud.

"Because Emma has a father whom I'd always planned for her to know one day. I've never even thought about him being her dad, Edward. Emma is the last gift you ever gave me before it all fell apart. And, I would have never given that gift to someone else." A small tear trailed down her left cheek and she looked at him in the eyes. "Once upon a time, Edward there was a girl who believed in happily-ever-after till the prince left her for Snow White and the end flashed before her eyes." Bella's laugh was bitter as were her eyes. "Do you love her, Edward? Did you ever love her?"

"Bella." He went to stand and she backed further away from him, "Bella, I care about Ali, but I've never loved her. Only one woman has ever had my heart and that's you." His green eyes pleaded with her to believe him.

"You care about her but you never loved her, but you loved me?" She asked, her voice void of emotion.

"Yes, Bella." He said hoping she would understand that she was the only one he had ever loved.

"You bastard! You ruined my life! You stole my innocent outlook and broke my heart for a woman you only care about!" She shouted at him, the fire in her brown eyes made them look almost black. "I'd have rather had you fallen madly in love with her and couldn't contain your love than just cared. Edward, I could handle being the first love that once you got to the big city alone for the first time you outgrew, the one where you left her behind when you found your real true love. But to be the one you loved; where you still could screw another woman… that I cannot handle." She took a deep breath and blew it out. "All these years, I consoled myself with the thought that you had fallen in love with Alice Brandon and that I, at least, found you with someone you loved more than me. Now, you tell me you "care" for Ali but you loved me. Edward Cullen, you are an asshole. I wish I had known when I was two then, I could have saved myself some grief." She looked around wildly and then spat out. "I never thought I'd say this, but I feel sorry for Alice Brandon."

"Bella!" Rose screamed coming through the door. The very large and sexy Emmett McCarty on her heels. "The neighbors called Momma when they heard screaming." Rose looked at her sister's confused face. "Mrs. Jones saw you come in here and old Mr. Lambert has already put bets out on when your and Edward's wedding date will be."

"Damn small town gossips." Edward blurted out, "McCarty I need my crutches. Hurt that damn ankle again." Emmett nodded and picked up is Iphone and dialed.

"Bella?" Rose questioned her sister who was both silent and motionless. "Are you ok?"

"Rose, did you bring a car?" Bella asked harshly.

"Of course, you didn't really think I'd let blue-eyes drive me anywhere?" She gave a cheeky grin and led her sister out of the house.