"Bella?" Edward said gently. "Bella, are you all right…?" His golden orbs were piercing through my soul, locking the gaze yet again.

"Edward…," I whispered.

"Bella, what's wrong? Alice called and told me that…" He trailed off, scared of what he was about to say.

"I'm fine," I assured him. "I just needed to see you."

He smiled his perfect crooked grin, which made my heart skip a beat.

I gasped.

"What's wrong?" he asked immediately concerned.

"I—I'm sorry!" I said. "I'm so, so sorry!"

"For what?" His perfect eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"I—I ruined your hunting trip!" I felt so ashamed. "I feel so selfish…"

"No, Bella. It's fine. We were just making up from our last hunting trip. Emmett caused a pandemonium that attracted you humans"—he gave me a wink, which made me blush—"and we had to leave. Emmett was the only one who finished hunting; Rosalie, Jasper, and I didn't get to." He shook his head amusedly at the memory. It made me smile.

"Oh."

He looked at me, and smiled softly. Then he grew concerned again. "What happened, Bella?"

I sighed, and looked away. "I…I…" I bit my lip. And then I started to cry.

Edward came closer to me, alarmed. "Bella, honey, what's wrong?" Despite my tears, my heart soared when he called me 'honey.'

"I feel so guilty. Please tell Carlisle, Esme, and Alice that I'm sorry. Emmett, included. I must have caused such a disturbance. Please forgive me," I whispered.

"Bella, they already forgave you. Alice saw that you would be bawling. It's all right, Bella." He smiled gently at me. "So, can you tell me what happened? The others didn't want to tell me." He glared at the floor.

I took a deep breath. "I showed Alice the bruises on my back, and—"

Edward interrupted me, "What—what bruises?"

"It's from my…incident. Anyways, she was horrified, and called Carlisle. Carlisle was horrified, also, and said he was going to help me. I…sort of overreacted and started yelling, 'Don't touch me!' Stupid, I know. Esme was in the background, assuring me that nobody was going to hurt me. I knew that, but…I…" I shook my head. "I knew Emmett was there, but he didn't do anything. I was grateful for that. But, please, please, Edward—tell them I'm sorry!" I gave him a pleading look.

"Oh, Bella, I'm so sorry!" he said sadly. "I'm sorry for all these tragic things that are happening to you! And, like I said, they forgave you already!"

"But—"

He cut me off, "They love you, Bella. They really do…"

"I love them, too…," I whispered.

It was silent. Well, that sounded cliché, I thought in my head. The word 'love' was hanging in the air.

Just say 'I love you,' Bella!

"Um…Bella?" Edward called.

"Yes?"

"Can you tell me what happened…to you?" he asked.

I nodded.

"You can stop whenever you want to. I'll understand."

I took a deep breath. "I…was broken when you left me, Edward. So, so broken… After awhile, Charlie talked—or scolded—me and sort of gave me a slap in the face, figuratively speaking, of course. So I tried to act normally for him and everybody else. Then I started hanging out with Jacob, the werewolf. He—"

"Can't believe you hung out with a young werewolf," Edward muttered.

I rolled my eyes. "Calm down, Edward. So, anyways, he helped me be my normal self. He became my best friend. We did everything together. We rode motor—"I stopped. I didn't want Edward to know that I rode motorcycles. It's bad enough that he knows I hung out with a young werewolf. But what's so bad about hanging out with a werewolf?

"Motor…cycles?" he said in clenched teeth. He's mad.

"Yes," I whispered in a meek voice. "I—I rode a motorcycle with him, and he was there to catch me. Then he started acted distant towards me. I called Billy and he told me that Jake was busy and all, but I knew he was lying. One day, I drove over to his house to talk to him, ask him what's going on. When I arrived, he was there—he was a lot bigger. He started giving me the cold shoulder, and saying that we shouldn't be friends anymore. We had a fight. And after that we never made up. Never…

"I became a zombie again. But it seemed much worse than before. Jacob made me happy—but not in a romantic way or anything." He sort of looked relieved when I said that. "Charlie became more and more worried. Once, he thought about sending me to Renee; I got mad at him. Then, one night…"—I was sobbing hard now—"…one night…I was at Port Angeles to go to the bookstore to find this book Angela recommended. It was dark, and I was alone. I was walking to my truck—I parked very far, for there was no parking space near—and that's when I saw…him. He started talking to me, saying how beautiful I am. I knew he was going to do something, and I knew he was bad. I started to walk away from him, but he was faster. He then started to take off my clothes, whispering menacing…" I couldn't finish it. I buried my face in my hands.

I didn't hear Edward, and I couldn't see his reaction. So, I lifted my head up. He was glaring at the ground. His hands were balled up in fists. He looked so…so terrifying.

"Edward…?" I called quietly.

"Bella," he whispered coldly. "Do you know who did this to you?"

"N-no."

"Were you…tested?"

"What—what do you mean?"

He sighed impatiently, "You know what I mean. Did you get tested if you were…pregnant?"

"I'm not pregnant. I was lucky. I didn't want a baby from that monster," I spat.

He flinched.

We didn't say anything. I was comfortable in the silence, but I wanted to know what Edward thought of this.

"Oh, Bella," he suddenly whispered." Oh, Bella, Bella… I'm so sorry for all of these dreadful things that are happening to you! Our leaving didn't do anything good. I swear, I am going to hunt down that lowlife…" He clenched his teeth together again.

"Oh, Edward, no!"I gasped. "Please! He's not worth it!"

"He doesn't deserve to live, Bella, can't you see that?" he asked, looking in my eyes. He leaned in closer. "You don't deserve to be…raped. Good things, great things should happen to you! An angel like you should have happiness all the time."

I blushed.

"Can I hug you, Bella?" he asked; it sounded like he was imploring, though. "Please, Bella?"

I looked down, and bit my lip.

"Bella…," he whispered.

I didn't say anything—I was afraid by whatever comes out of my mouth might hurt his feelings.

"Bella, please… I'll help you."

"Edward…," I whispered. I was sobbing.

Could I really trust Edward enough to make him hug me? He left me, but the real question is if he still loves me. That if all the things he said that day he left me were lies. Does he still love me? Does he? I definitely know that I still love him. I love him so much it freaking hurts.

Edward was staring at me with pained eyes; I wanted to touch his cheek and tell him everything's okay. But…

I opened my mouth but nothing came out.

"I want to hold you in my arms, again, Bella. Let me help you," he pleaded.

I looked away from him, tears pouring down my face hard.

"Edward…I…" What could I say?

"Bella…I love you… I never stopped."

And that was the answer I needed.

"I love you, too, Edward…," I whispered.

-x-

I tried to make this part as sad as possible; I hope it's good enough. I was really sick on the weekend—again. My little cousin was super sick, and I had to hug her close since she told me that she was cold. I hate being sick. Right now, I have a sore throat and a cold. It sucks.

I also want to thank everyone that's saying that they are enjoying this story!

Review, please. :)

Monica-san