Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or plotlines of the Twilight Saga and the following is a form of fiction based on the brilliance of Stephanie Meyer's work.

Author: ToryD

Beta: Splendorous Night Unfurled

Title: A Forbidden Forever

Chapter Nine

"Edward was very adamant that the house had to be built around these trees," Esme stated as she pointed out several large cedars that had to date back at least one hundred years.

"It was certainly worth it," Bella replied with a soft smile as she gazed at the three story mansion that nestled perfectly beneath a canopy of shade via the large gathering of trees.

"Let's sit down and talk for a moment," Esme suggested as she gestured to a small alcove that had several Adirondack chairs and benches positioned around an outdoor gas fireplace. "I think that Edward keeps this on all year," she said as she pushed a starter button that instantly caused a flame to burn within the stone semi-circle enclosure.

Bella sank down onto a bench and held her hands out to the inviting warmth of the fire. "It's really beautiful here," she observed as she smiled at Esme, who had taken a seat next to her.

"Bella, I hope you don't think I'm being too forward," Esme began in an almost apologetic tone. "But I wanted to see if you wanted to talk about what happened last night?"

Bella stiffened instantly and looked away from Esme's kind concerned eyes. "I'm sorry for that," Bella said with a slight flush to her cheeks.

"No Bella, I didn't mean for you to apologize, I wanted to see if you needed someone to talk to," Esme responded immediately. Reaching out she placed a cold comforting hand upon Bella's clenched fist.

Bella swallowed hard past the huge lump that had formed in her throat. "Thank you Esme, but…" her voice trailed off as tears began to form in her soft brown eyes.

Seeing that Bella was becoming upset Esme reached over and pulled Bella into her mothering arms. "Oh honey, I'm sorry," she apologized gently. "I can tell that you are trying to cope with some very deep pain, but you really need to talk about it with someone in order to let it go," she advised soothingly.

Bella closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath as she leaned heavily upon Esme's shoulder. Maybe it was time to let someone into her internal hell. Perhaps Esme would be able to shed some light on why she had only brought unhappiness and pain to those who were unfortunate enough to come to love her, she thought as a slight shudder ripped through her tense body. "It's not a very pretty story," Bella offered quietly in warning as a lone tear escaped to trail slowly down her pale cheek.

Esme pulled Bella tighter into her embrace and waited patiently for her to continue.

"I was eight when my parents were killed in a car accident," Bella began in clinical tone that failed to mask the immense pain that was radiating from her trembling form. "Being eight isn't an ideal age for an orphan, especially a clumsy child like I was," Bella explained with a sad little smile playing upon her lips. "People want babies or children that are so young that they won't think of their birth parents after their adopted. So I was sent to foster care. Some of the families were very nice, but it was never like a real home, most of them had their own children and I guess they were just taking in foster children for the extra money that the State gave them for our upkeep.

Bella looked off into the forest that sat adjacent to the large garage with a faraway look in her chestnut brown eyes. "I learned early on that if you worked hard and stayed very quite that it really wasn't so bad, you just had to know your place is all. I was moved quite a few times, so there were always new rules to learn. I guess the real trouble started when I was fifteen and I moved in with Laverne. She was definitely in the foster care system only for the money," Bella proclaimed with a look of disgust on her face. "So I moved in and met Mike, who you met last night."

"The football player that Emmett had cornered all night?" Esme asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes," Bella replied as she sat up from Esme, feeling the need for some distance from Edward's beautiful sister-in-law for she didn't want to taint her with the vile turn her story was about to take. "Mike was just a year older than me when I moved in. Laverne didn't really hold down a job for more than a month at a time so Mike and I worked after school to help pay the bills and to help support her drinking habit," Bella added with a stinging bite to her tone. "Anyway, things were okay for a while until she started having her boyfriend come around." Bella's voice shook as she spoke the last sentence.

Esme watched with sympathetic eyes as Bella struggled with the memories of her past. "Are you alright Bella?" she asked, concern evident in her words.

"Alright?" Bella choked out in a short self-mocking laugh that was filled with such a pain-filled sorrow that Esme almost gasped aloud. Bella leaped to her feet to circle the fireplace restlessly in a need of some physical release in order to push back the pain that threatened to swallow her whole. After a few moments of silence in which Bella collected herself, she continued with her story. "So there we were; me a sixteen year old girl and Mike, a seventeen year old football star whom everyone seemed to love. Laverne started having," Bella paused as if she couldn't bear to talk of the man who had caused her so much pain so long ago, "Ron stay overnight at the house. He was always…" Bella's voice broke as fresh tears came to her eyes.

"Bella?" Esme prompted softly, knowing that the only way for Bella to begin to heal was to share her pain.

"He was always trying to… touch me," Bella said with a tortured look on her strained face as she glanced back at Esme, who was trying hard to remain as still as possible in order not to break Bella's courage. Drawing in a shuddering breath, Bella looked towards the gathering clouds above as she fought back the fresh tears welling in her eyes before she continued with her story. "He used to sneak up behind me and put his hands…" Bella broke off as she wrapped her arms around herself tightly as if to protect herself from the man who had so cruelly abused her so long ago. "Anyway, I learned how to stay out of sight while he was in the house. Mike was aware of Ron's advances so he tried to always be there whenever Ron came over to help make sure that Ron would never…."

Esme watched helplessly as Bella struggled with the dark visions of her past, wanting nothing more than to wrap her up in her arms and promise that nothing bad would ever happen to her again.

"So this went on for a few months and then Jacob moved in," Bella said as she continued to pace around the fireplace, her movements uncommonly quick and erratic. "Jacob was a year older than me when he came to Laverne's home. He was really having a hard time adjusting to the death of his father. He died after a long battle with cancer," Bella said with sympathy filling her eyes as she remembered the first time she had seen Jacob. "He and Mike were wonderful to me, like the big brothers I never had," Bella added with a warm smile gracing her lips.

"They would try to always make sure that one or the other was there in the house with me so that Ron wouldn't try anything. But one night Jacob was late coming home from work and Mike had a scheduled meeting with a football scout from Florida State, so I promised Mike that I would stay in my room with the door locked until Jacob got home so he would go," Bella said as she began to tremble with emotion at the long buried memory. "I did stay in my room for quite a while, but I had forgotten to do the dishes."

A sharp pain twisted within Esme's cold chest as she watched silently as Bella began to relive the worst moment of her young life.

"So stupid me," Bella added with a derogatory laugh aimed at herself, "I left my room to go to the kitchen to do the dishes." Tears began to fall silently down Bella's pale cheeks as she stared unseeingly into the fire. "Ron was there and he had been drinking. I'll never forget the way he looked at me," Bella said without looking away from the orange-yellow flames. "He looked so smug, like he had finally won some prize he had been after." Bella went silent for a few minutes as she relived the moment that had changed her whole world.

Esme held her breath, afraid that even the sound of her nearly silent breathing would pull Bella away from her memories.

Bella wrapped her arms tightly around her waist as if she were struggling to keep herself from breaking apart. "When I saw him, I turned and tried to get back to my room, but he was so fast," Bella said as her voice became almost a whisper as if the words she was speaking would be too vile to hear if spoken in a normal tone. "I almost got the door closed and locked, but he got his boot between the door and he…" Bella's voice broke as she recalled the fear.

Esme stood and walked over to Bella's shaking form. "Bella," she called softly as she placed a comforting arm around her to guide her back to the bench to sit down. "Honey, you don't have to say anymore if you don't want to," Esme advised as she looked into Bella's terror-filled eyes and wondered just how much more she could endure.

Bella bent her head for a moment to collect herself before she looked up at Esme's concerned face. Seeing nothing but worry and acceptance in Esme's golden gaze Bella felt an unexplainable warmth spread through her as if she weren't all alone in the world for one of the first times in last six years. "I think I would like to continue if it's not to upsetting to you?" Bella asked with an uneasy look upon her pale face.

Esme felt awed by Bella who was proving to be such an amazing young woman who, even in one of most emotionally charged moments of her young life, could think of other's feelings beyond her own needs. Esme put her arm around Bella and pulled her head gently down upon her shoulder. "Bella," she said softly as she kissed the top of Bella' head affectionately. "I'm honored that you feel like you can confide in me. And please don't think that my reactions to your past is anything but sadness for what you had to go through," Esme imparted as she stroked Bella's arm soothingly.

Smiling into Esme's supportive shoulder, Bella felt as if some of Esme's strength was passing through to her, giving her the confidence to finish. "Thank you Esme," Bella whispered gratefully.

"I tried to keep him out by bracing the door with all my weight, but he out weighted me by at least a hundred pounds so he pushed his way into my room very easily. Once he was inside, I picked up a lamp and held it out in front of me to keep him away," Bella said in a strange detached tone as if she were only relaying some minor incident. "I'll never forget the look on his face when he laughed at me. He said 'You'd better watch yourself girl, you don't want to hurt yourself,' while he walked around the bed towards me." Bella swallowed hard as she became engrossed in the memory. "I swung the lamp at his head but he ducked and I only caught the top of his shoulder. This made him very angry and he hit me on the left side of my face; I fell from the force of it. I was in a daze while I lay on the floor. He then leaned down and grabbed me by my hair and pulled me up onto the bed," Bella's voice retained the disconnected monotone as if she needed to distance herself in order to get through the words she was speaking. "He pinned me beneath his weight and ripped my shirt open. His eyes were so glazed, like he was beside himself with some unknown hunger," Bella said as a slight ripple of revulsion shot through her body.

"Be began trying to kiss me, I remember his breath smelled disgustingly of stale beer. He put his hands on my breasts, pinching and pulling them so painfully. I lay there unmoving as it took me a second to grasp what was happening," Bella said as her eyes took on an almost astonished look within their brown depths. "Then I began to fight; I pulled his hair, bit him where I could and clawed at his face." Bella shivered slightly as she continued with her story. "He literally roared with rage and drew back with his fist and hit me full in the face, breaking my nose. I covered my face with my hands and felt so much blood pouring from my nose," she whispered as she unknowingly touched her nose. "He continued to hit at me so I brought my knee up into his groin and he fell off me long enough for me to get off the bed and run. I got about as far as the hallway before he caught up," Bella said as she pulled out of Esme's embrace to stand and walk over to stare unseeingly into the gently rippling firelight.

Esme watched with a look rare look of anger on her usually serene features, wanting nothing more than to punish the man who had so cruelly inflicted so much pain on such a sweet young girl.

"He grabbed my head and began beating it against the wall," Bella continued in a barely auditable tone. "I think this is where it all gets kind of fuzzy. I felt as if I was just watching him beat some unknown person at that point, like I was high above and looking down. I remember feeling so sorry for the girl who lay there bleeding on the floor while Ron was kicking her repeatedly in the stomach." Bella said with a lilting quality. "Jacob came in about then and…" Bella began to sob as she tried to push through to the end. "He jumped on Ron and began chocking him. Ron tried to fight back but Jacob was just so much stronger and it was all over in just a minute. Ron laid dead, his eyes still open and staring at me even in his death."

Bella wrapped her arms around herself as she tried to push away the pain that had resurfaced so brutally. "Jacob's face was filled with utter shocked as he looked down at Ron's lifeless body, as if he didn't know what had happened. He was shaking so badly when he came over to me, I will never be able to forget the pain in his eyes when he realized that he had taken a life," Bella's voice broke as she sank down to her knees as her legs went out from under her.

Esme rushed to Bella's fallen form and pulled her protectively into her arms once again. "Oh honey," she offered soothingly as she began to rock Bella gently.

"And so Jacob gave up his life in order to save me," Bella said so dejectedly that Esme's dead heart actually ached for Bella's unequaled pain.

"No, honey," Esme interrupted as she leaned back to she could look in Bella's haunted eyes. "Jacob rescued you from some monster. He must be a remarkable young man to have stepped in as he did."

"He is Esme," Bella replied as silent tears streamed down her cheeks. "He gave up everything for me, and I don't think I can bare the guilt of it anymore."

Esme frowned at the look of self-loathing in Bella's eyes. "Bella, none of this was your fault!"

Bella let a hard laugh escape her trembling lips as she clenched her fists tightly. "You're wrong Esme," she whispered dejectedly. "It was all my fault, Jacob has to spend the rest of his life in prison because I forgot to do the dishes," Bella said with such a simple unblemished suffering that Esme knew that she would never again in her endless days ahead see such a raw and unmatched pain.

Pulling on the wisdom of her last seventy years, Esme resolved herself as she committed unconditionally to Bella's healing. "Bella," she called with a firmness that served to pull Bella from her anguished torture. "Listen to me! You were a sixteen year old girl who deserved to be protected. You did nothing wrong and neither did Jacob."

"But," Bella began, only to be interrupted by an insistent Esme.

"NO!" Esme shook her head firmly as she grasped Bella's shoulders in a strong firm hold. "The man who preyed upon a helpless girl got just what he deserved! You did nothing wrong and everything right!"

Bella watched in surprise as Esme offered her support so unreservedly. "But Jacob still had to give up his life, so…" Bella said as she pulled her eyes away from the intenseness of Esme's warm golden gaze.

"I don't know what happened in Jacob's case, but it can't have been right that he went to prison," Esme said as she began to calculate what needed to be done to correct the wrong that had gone on way too long. "I need to talk this over with Edward," she said as she got to her feet and then gently leaned down to pull a confused Bella to her feet as well.

"Edward?" Bella asked with a bewildered look upon her face.

Esme reached down and turned off the fire before taking Bella's hand in hers to gently pull her towards the back of Edward's majestic mansion. "Edward will know what we need to do to get Jacob freed," Esme said with a matter of fact tone that served to stop Bella in her tracks. "Bella?" Esme questioned as she turned to look at the younger woman.

"Do you really think that it's possible?" Bella asked with such a small improbable hope coloring her voice that Esme felt a new sense of conviction fill her, knowing that whatever it took, she would see that Bella had some form of happiness in her future.

"Yes, Bella I do," Esme said simply as she walked to where Bella stood and pulled her gently into her arms. "It will take some time, but you can rest assured that Edward will make sure that Jacob has the justice that was so obviously deigned to him."

"Edward," Bella whispered the name reverently causing a soft smile to appear on Esme's perfect lips.

"You really feel something special for him don't you?" Esme asked as she watched Bella's cheeks flush prettily.

After a moment of silent consideration Bella replied with an awed look in her warm brown eyes. "Yes," she replied with a truthfulness that served to startle her slightly.

Esme smile widened as she watched Bella's features take on a soft look of wonder that could only be the first realization that she was falling in love. "That's good, because I don't think that Edward could accept it if you didn't feel the same as he does."

Bella drew in a surprised breath at Esme's words feeling a strange sense of anticipation for the future.

Esme watched Bella carefully as she called out to Edward within her mind. 'Edward, she's okay now.'

Within the house Edward sprang to his feet and quickly raced towards the back glass doors, knowing that on the other side his one true purpose in this existence awaited. His Bella was at last ready for him.

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A/N Yay! Bella made it through and now it is Bella and Edward discovering each other and their new found love. But alas, don't forget the evil Rosalie is waiting in the wings to pull apart our two love birds. Oh the drama of it all! Please leave me a review to let me know how I'm doing.

Thanks for reading!