My annoyance with work today has led me to procrastination - so here's a quicker update than expected!

As a note, I know many reviewers felt that the abuse Bella had been facing from Renee was unrealistic. And the sad fact is, it's not. Unfortunately with dealing with young children who had grown up with violence in their homes, they know every way to hide anything. And their parents know every way to hurt their children in places where it's not as noticeable. For example, the ribs, like the last chapter.

Stay with me though, this may be fiction but not totally out of the park. And as a FYI, this chapter has quite a bit of child abuse, so please be warned if this topic is sensitive for you.

Enjoy, and hope to read your thoughts in reviews. Hoping you'll all still stay with me after this one though!

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight.

"Thanks for the ride, Alice!" I leaned over into the passenger side window and smiled at my best friend behind the wheel before heading into my house. Even at seventeen, Alice still had her adorable baby face and dimples. She even kept her short, perfectly styled hair which many of the wannabe's at Forks high tried mimicking but never got it just right like she did. I watched as Alice drove off in her brand new black Mercedes – a birthday gift from Carlisle, who had been newly promoted to Chief of Staff at Forks Hospital. With Esme's interior decorating business going off and him running the hospital, things were good for the Cullens, and I was beyond happy for them. The only downside was that they had moved farther away from being a few blocks down, so it wasn't an easy walk to their place, but we still made it work as best as we could. If Alice couldn't drive to my place, I'd drive to her place with Big Red, the old rusty pick up that my dad had fixed up for me for my seventeenth birthday. Maybe not as classy as a sleek Mercedes, but it brought me from point A to B. And plus, it meant more to me than anything else because Charlie had worked so hard to make it perfect just for me.

Our relationship had gotten much better over the years, we were finally close to having the perfect father daughter relationship, which didn't sit all too well with my mother, who seemed to surprisingly get even more bitter over the years. And Charlie also knew that I was hiding something from him… He had tried many times to pick it out of me, but seeing that I wouldn't budge, he'd drop it.

Luckily for me, Edward had seen my bruises but after a lot of begging from me, he kept it quiet. Even though he was beyond furious with me for keeping my secret. As hard as I tried, he just wouldn't understand – no one could understand, not even me. In the beginning, I kept quiet so she could finally make things right with Charlie, and maybe that was the naïve child in me that hoped I could have a perfect family like Alice, Edward and Emmett did. But now? I didn't know why, maybe I was still that naïve, lost child. And at the end of the day, my mother still terrified me.

Since that night, when Edward would come by my room, he would inspect me each time and help tend whatever new injuries I would have. No words were spoken, but you could hear his deep breaths as he'd delicately clean me up. I'd catch a glimpse of his face during and could see his jaw tense as he'd grind his teeth, and sigh when he'd find a bruise bigger than the last one. He was so perfect, so beautiful and perfect while I was so broken, but I couldn't let my feelings for Edward get in the way. Plus, I had heard the rumors about Edward and the many girls he had been with at Forks. As much as I'd berate myself for being silly enough to listen to high school rumors, I couldn't help it. But I'd never mention it to him, that'd just make things a whole lot awkward than they'd have to be. Still though, it wasn't always easy ignoring the rumors. The girls at Forks High were all jealous of the relationship Edward and I had because of how close we were, but I never really let that bother me. Plus, they now knew better than to try to test me. Unfortunately, all of the anger that I harbored against my mother would sometimes be let go when anyone even set me off in the slightest way. I couldn't help it, I'd just see black and I would just lose it. The worst had been when Jessica Stanley got a little too close in my face and taunted me, apparently about how she had been sucking Edward off the night before. I couldn't stand her screams and her insulting me, and the next thing I knew, my fist collided with her face. A second after, I felt two arms pull me away and I reflexively spun and was ready to punch whoever touched me, until I realized it was Edward. He pulled my hand and brought me outside, sat me in his precious silver Volvo, and hugged me tightly while I calmed myself down and my breathing went back to normal.

And so much for trying to not let my feelings get in the way, especially when he did things like that.

Pathetic, right? Not only do I have a psychotic, crazy bitch of a mother who beats the shit out of me on a daily basis, but I'm completely head over heels in love with my best friend, who has no idea and doesn't feel the same way.

But those were the cards I was dealt with, anyway.

I walked into my house, locking the door behind me and holding in the groan when I saw my mother sitting in the family room. I knew my dad wasn't home because his cruiser wasn't outside, so I had planned on making a quick escape to my bedroom without her seeing me. I said nothing to her as I kicked off my shoes and hung my jacket in the closet, turning around and gasping when I saw that my mother was right behind me. I could smell the alcohol reeking off of her, which wasn't what scared me. It was her eyes, and the way they were staring at me. She didn't look angry like she usually did, her face wasn't twisted in that way, but by the way she blankly looked at me, I had a horrible feeling in my gut.

"Where were you?" Her dead voice made me feel even worse, so I quickly explained to her.

"Alice and I went to go dress shopping. Emmett's 20th birthday is in a couple of days, so she helped me find something to wear."

"I don't recall you asking me. Who said you could go? And where did you find the money to go dress shopping, hmm?"

Shit. "You were working this morning, so – "

Her growl shut me up immediately as she interrupted. "Did I fucking as you where I was? I asked you who said you could go and where the hell you got the money from, Isabella. Answer the fucking question properly!"

"Ch-Charlie did. And I used my own money, I just got my pay from the diner."

"Oh, you used your own money, Isabella? It's your money now?"

Now she looked furious, stepping towards me while I backed up against the wall.

"Well I mean, it's my job and that was my pay, but –"

I didn't manage to get another word out before her left hand grabbed my neck and pushed my head into the wall so hard that my vision blurred for a moment. I could barely breathe as she tightened her hold and snarled right into the face.

"You pathetic little brat, that's not your money. It's mine! I own you, so everything you have is mine. So that means that you went out and spent my money. You stole it from me."

She pulled me towards her and pushed me back into the wall again, harder than she had the time before. Whatever breath that was in me left my body as my legs buckled underneath me, but her arm kept me up. She winded back her right hand and punched me in the stomach, making me gasp out and grab it in pain. Before I managed to breathe through the pain of her punch, she pulled my forward and slammed my head back against the wall again, making me cry out in pain. My vision blurred and I kept trying to gasp for a breath, for the slightest amount of oxygen to just apologize and beg for her to leave me alone. This had been by far the worst that she'd gone on me, and I could feel myself slipping into unconsciousness as the pain ripped through my body. I couldn't scream, I couldn't make any sound but cry in pain.

"Don't you even think I'm done with you yet, Isabella." She gripped my hair with the hand that wasn't wrapped around my neck and pulled hard in her direction, then roughly grabbed the side of my face. She pressed my cheek into the wall and leaned over to whisper in my ear. "You stupid, pathetic brat. All you do is take it, take everything I give to you like a sad little puppy. Why is that, huh? Why haven't you cried to your daddy yet? You could have ran by now. Could've told your fancy pants friends too. I've raised you well, little girl. You know when to keep your mouth shut."

I whimpered in pain as she pushed my cheek harder against the wall, but she punched me in the stomach again before I could even attempt to. She finally let go of me and my body crumbled to the ground as I clenched my stomach in pain. I couldn't breathe, no matter how hard I tried…

Why couldn't I breathe? Why couldn't I just beg her to stop?

I tried to hold on for as long as I could but I was slipping farther away and couldn't focus. The tears of pain started falling down my cheeks and I was silently praying for someone, anyone to find me. To help me, to save me. Because in that moment, I was convinced that my mother was finally going to kill me.

I knew my tears would have made things so much worse, as she would see that as a sign of weakness and my mother hated that. She would've done worse, but I couldn't help it, I couldn't hold anything in any longer. My body was shutting down from all of the pain, and I was losing my control.

"What are you doing, Isabella? Are you… are youcrying?" I could hear the surprise laced with anger in her voice. "Are you fucking serious, you're even more pathetic than I thought!"

I tried to brace myself for the next impact but it was no use. The pain from the force of her kicking my side shot pain throughout my body and I was face down against the floor before she kicked me again. The pain started to numb away as she continued to beat me, my body would move against her kicks and punches but I didn't feel any of it anymore. My eyes fluttered closed as everything went black, her continuing to beat me as I started to let go. I could hear her screaming, but also another deeper voice as well before slipping into unconsciousness.

Finally.