A/N: Kind of a short one.

Chapter 13 - Arrangements

EPOV

"Bella!"

I reached her just as her eyes rolled back into her head and she went limp, catching her easily in my arms before she hit the floor.

What in the hell had caused her to faint?

"Bella, baby… open your eyes. Say you're okay," I murmured, panicked desperation leaking into my voice. Lifting her up, I carried her to the couch and slowly lowered her down onto it, brushing away the hair that had fallen across her face.

What did that Billy guy tell her?

The phone… where was the phone?

I swung around and searched the floor, finding it lying near the spot where Bella had fainted. Hurrying over, I lifted it to my ear and said, "Hello? Is anyone there?"

"Yes? Hello?" a gruff voice I recognized from the answering machine responded. "What happened? Who is this?"

"My name's Edward. Bella fainted. What did you tell her?" I demanded, kneeling beside the couch next to Bella's head. Her pulse was steady and she didn't appear to be in any pain, but she hadn't woken up yet and I was starting to get worried.

"She fainted?! Is she okay?" he asked, clearly concerned for her. As much as I appreciated that concern, I needed to know why she had fainted.

"Yes, she's fine. Now tell me what you told her."

"Charlie, her father… died this evening," he said somberly.

My heart plummeted. Oh, my god… Bella. My poor Bella.

No wonder she had fainted.

"How did it happen? Was it sudden?" Had Bella mentioned to me that her father was sick? I didn't think so, but I also wasn't 100 percent certain.

"He was shot while on duty. It was very sudden."

"Has anything important been decided yet? Like the funeral arrangements?" I asked, wondering who I should call to cover my classes next week. It was a good thing Spring Break was a week away; I only had six vacation days saved up. Not that I wouldn't go into my unpaid sick days for Bella's sake. Because I sure as hell wasn't going to let her go through this without me by her side the entire time.

"No, nothing's been decided yet. We're still getting over the shock of him being gone."

"Sure, that's completely understandable. Thank you for calling."

I was about to hang up when Billy asked, "Should I call her mother? I got the number from Charlie's cell phone."

"Um… I would let Bella do that," I replied, anxious to get off the phone. Bella was stirring out of her unconsciousness and I didn't want to be on the phone when she came around.

"Well, tell her we all love her, and that we're here for her."

"Will do. Thanks again." With that, I hung up and threw the phone aside, concentrating solely on Bella as her eyes fluttered open.

"Hey," I said softly, cupping her face in my hands and leaning over her so I was the first thing she saw.

Bella gave me a faint smile and whispered, "Hey."

Then she blinked a couple times and my heart ripped in two as I saw her remember what had happened. The overwhelming pain in her eyes made my own well up with tears.

God, why did this have to happen now? Bella didn't deserve this kind of pain.

She whispered her father's name right before sobs racked her entire body. I gathered her up in my arms and switched our positions, picking her up and settling her onto my lap once I was seated on the couch. Her crying didn't skip a beat the entire time I rearranged us. I whispered anything and everything I could think of to her, telling her it would be alright, that I wouldn't leave her, that I was sorry this happened, and that I would take care of everything. Bella said nothing in response, not that I thought she would. She just clung to me, her head buried against my neck, sobbing.

I continued to hold her close, even after I ran out of things to say a half hour later, occasionally dropping a kiss on the top of her head, or running a hand up and down her back in a hopefully soothing manner. A plan had already formed in my mind about what I needed to do.

First, I needed to contact Angela because she seemed like the best person to work out the travel arrangements. Plus, she was Bella's best friend and deserved to know about Charlie, since she had probably known him while she and Bella were friends in high school. But in order to contact her, I would have to let go of Bella to get to her cell phone for Angela's number. And I was very reluctant to do that because one, Bella had a death grip around my neck, and two, I didn't want to let go of her.

Maybe if I carried her into her bedroom, I could swipe her cell phone on the way. It made sense. I could see the phone lying on the mantle, a mere three feet from us. It would be easy to grab when I walked by.

So I tried it, and it worked beautifully. Bella didn't stir out of her heart-wrenching sobs and I was able to situate us on her bed much like we had been on the couch, but this time I was propped up against her pillows with the wall to my back.

Flipping open her phone, I sent a quick text message to Angela, telling her what happened, along with an upper-cased SOS. I didn't want to call her, mainly because I didn't want to upset Bella any more than she already was.

Bella's phone buzzed in my hand when Angela replied, saying she was on her way and that she would take care of everything.

One less thing to worry about.

I pulled out my cell phone and sent a rather long text to Alice, asking her to pack me a suitcase with enough of my clothes and toiletries to last me through two weeks, and telling her what had happened. I didn't know how long Bella would want to stay in Forks, but I wanted to be sure I was prepared for anything. If we ended up staying longer than two weeks, I would just buy more stuff.

Alice called me back, and I was thankful I'd had the forethought to turn the ringer on silent before showing up at Bella's apartment tonight.

"Hey, Alice," I answered quietly.

"Edward! Is Bella okay? What can I do? Do I need to come over there? Tell me what happened," she demanded in the way that she always did.

"Alice, I can't really talk right now. Please just do what I asked." I had known the chances of Alice doing something without calling me for more details was slim, but she was my only option because she was the only person in town that had a key to my apartment. If my mom had been around, instead of out of town with my father, I would have contacted her. Because she wouldn't have called me, spouting out a dozen questions like Alice just did.

"Fine," she huffed. "But I'm coming over when I'm done."

"Just as long as you bring my stuff with you." She hung up, probably put out with me, but I didn't care. My only concern right now was Bella and making sure I did everything I could to help her.

Her sobs slowly quieted and became a more muted crying, with tears streaming down her face. She loosened her grip on me and eventually drifted off to sleep, most likely exhausted from this evening's events.

I laid her down on the bed, taking off her heels before tucking her underneath the sheets. As much as I wanted to get her out of that dress – because it looked uncomfortable to sleep in; not because I was a perv like that – I figured it would be better if Angela did it.

Buttoning my shirt back up, I went into the living room to wait for Angela, and to clean up a little bit by blowing out the candles and putting all of the food in the kitchen. Ten minutes later the front door opened and closed quickly, and Angela rushed into the living room. I stood up, prepared to relay what had happened in excruciating detail as I had been taught to do my entire life from both my mother and Alice, but she shook her head before I even opened my mouth.

"It doesn't matter how it happened. Just that it did," she explained gently, putting her purse on the coffee table and taking off her coat. "Where's Bella?"

"I put her in bed once she cried herself out." Shoving my hands in my pants' pockets, I gave a little helpless shrug. "I wasn't sure what else to do."

"I'm sure you've helped Bella out immensely just by being here," she assured me, taking a step to stand in front of me. She smiled warily and placed a supportive hand on my arm. "I know your relationship with Bella is still kind of new, so I didn't want to assume anything on your part… but Ben is about to book mine and Bella's airplane ticket to Port Angeles and I didn't know if you wanted to come back with us or not…"

"Yes, I do," I stated firmly. "I already have Alice packing some clothes for me."

"Oh, okay. I'll tell him to get three tickets then."

"Good." At a loss of what to say or do next, I stood there awkwardly, staring at my feet and racking my brain for anything I might have missed. Now that Angela was here, I wasn't sure what my role was anymore.

Lifting my head, I sidestepped Angela and plopped down onto the couch. "Uh… I took off Bella's shoes, but I figured the dress removal part would be better left to you."

She nodded that she had heard me and promptly went into Bella's room. My head dropped into my hands as I sat there, waiting for Alice to show up.

A couple minutes later, a knock sounded on the front door and I got up to answer it, only to find my usually bouncy and vibrant sister more melancholy than I had seen her in a long time. In fact, I think the last time I had seen her so downcast was when we'd had to put our dog to sleep ten years ago.

"Where is she?" she asked quietly, stepping inside and pulling my rolling suitcase in behind her.

"Her bedroom. Angela's in there too," I answered, taking the suitcase from her and carrying it into the living room. Alice followed and looked to me for further directions because this was her first time here. I pointed out Bella's bedroom and she went in, leaving me alone again.

Hoisting the suitcase onto the couch, I opened it up and quickly went through everything, making sure nothing had been forgotten. But Alice had packed everything I would need, just like I knew she would.

She was nothing but thorough in these kind of situations.

I zipped the suitcase back up and put in a corner so it wouldn't be in the way. Running my hands through my hair, I looked around helplessly, seeing if there was anything else I could do.

God, I felt so… sad and empty and horrible for Bella because she just lost her father and a little disappointed this evening had taken such a dramatic turn downhill, especially when it had held such promise just an hour ago.

And then I felt guilty for feeling that disappointment. It wasn't her father's fault for dying the night Bella had turned the tables on me, and I had finally thrown caution to the wind. I had to believe this happened for a reason. Because if I didn't, there was a great possibility that I would break down and either cry until there was nothing left inside of me, or tear everything I could put my hands on apart.

I hated feeling helpless. It was the worst feeling in the world.

If only I felt comfortable enough to go in Bella's room and see what was going on. I could make sure she was alright.

And that she had called her mother.

Shit.

I forgot to tell Angela that Bella's mother still needed to be called.

Making my way across the room, I leaned my ear close to Bella's bedroom door and tried to make out what was happening inside. There was some muffled talking, but nothing I could decipher. I knocked hesitantly on the door and waited for someone to answer.

The door cracked open to reveal Alice, her makeup smudged and tear tracks running down her cheeks. "Yes?"

"I forgot to tell you guys to call Bella's mom. She hasn't been informed yet," I whispered, trying to sneak a glance at Bella over Alice's shoulder, but the door opened up at the wrong angle to see the bed.

"Okay, thanks." Alice made a move to close the door, but I reached out and halted its progress.

"Is she okay? Can I do anything?" I asked hastily, pleading with my eyes for admittance into the room.

"She's still crying, but at least she's talking now. I'll let you know if you can do anything." Alice shut the door and I stood there, feeling dejected and hurt that I wasn't allowed into the girls' club.

Might as well get my class issue out of the way, I thought, making my way back to the couch and sprawling out on it.

I called Jasper, apologizing for waking him up at a rather late hour, and told him what had happened and that I was going out of town for an undetermined amount of time. He assured me he would call the University's music department head in the morning and find a substitute for my classes next week. I thanked him profusely before hanging up, feeling a little better after being shunned to the living room.

I was floundering… torn between my desire to run into Bella's room, scooping her up in my arms and never allowing her to leave them again, and staying put, waiting out my sentence like the good little boy scout I was.

Just then something flashed in the corner of my eye and I turned my head, seeing Alice and Angela standing to the left of me, which surprised me because I hadn't heard them approach.

"She fell asleep again after she talked to her mother, but she keeps calling out for you," Angela managed to say before I shot past them and quickly entered Bella's room, quietly shutting the door behind me.

Bella was curled up underneath her covers, her back to me. I stepped closer and held my breath as I watched her sleep, not wanting to wake her, but she stirred anyway and whispered something. I leaned in closer, only to hear my name fall from her lips. It went straight through me, and I knew in that second that I would do anything for her.

Her eyelids fluttered open and she half-turned, her gaze focusing on me in the darkness.

"Edward," she sighed, reaching out for me. I sank down on the bed next to her as she sat up. The sheets fell down and I noticed she had changed into some pajamas.

"How are you feeling?" I asked softly, pushing her hair back, away from her face and neck.

"Tired, sad, drained, depressed…" Bella shrugged as she trailed off, her eyes filling up with more tears. I pulled her to me and gently rocked her back and forth as she cried again.

"Stay with me tonight, please," she whispered against my chest.

Like I would want to be anywhere else…

"I'll stay forever, if you want me to," I promised, kissing the top of her head. She sniffed a couple of times and pushed away from me. I let her go and watched as she laid back down, scooting over to make room for me in the small bed. Standing up, I quickly shed my shoes, shirt, and pants, and slid in beside her, wrapping my arms around her slim waist and pulling her against me.

Bella snuggled into my chest and sighed softly. Her hot breath hit my skin and the heat spread throughout my body. I was a man after all, and not a saint. So, of course I reacted to her nearness, to her soft, warm body pressed close to mine, but I tried to ignore the coursing readiness of my body, and instead stay focused on being a gentleman.

She fell back asleep easily, but I needed a little longer to get over the night's events, which weighed heavily on my heart. I didn't know what she was going through, but I vowed to be with her, every step of the way, no matter how long it took.

Because that's what you do for someone you love… right?