BPOV

Walking. It was the only way that I could even attempt to clear my mind. It was unsafe to drive; I would probably crash the car. I was like a cracked porcelain shell to begin with, and Angela's words had driven a wedge between the fractures, creating splinters in my chest. I moved aimlessly, daring the clouds to dump themselves on me, yet again. It was stupid of me to leave, but I needed to run to keep myself from breaking down. That was the last thing I needed.

Angela's house was situated precariously close to the edge of the forest. However, I didn't allow myself to even step beneath the trees. There were too many memories hidden in the brush, and plus, I would undoubtedly get lost and end up coming home late again. I didn't care who saw me and I knew I would get rained on again. Nothing much seemed to matter right now. I struggled to get their names out of my head. Think about Ian, I coaxed myself. I thought back to tucking him in, but my conversation with his mother resurfaced.

Think about…Dan, I tried again. This time, only bile rose in my throat. I threw my hands up in surrender. "Don't think about anything, then!" I said out loud, looking up at the sky. On queue, a small raindrop splattered in my eye. It was followed by several more that quickly progressed in speed and size. "Oh, what a day," I sighed.

It was then, while I was being pelted by rain, that I saw it. A familiar black Mercedes. It drove by slowly and something inside of me snapped. A support on the dam that I had built inside of myself gave way. My knees folded beneath me and I sank onto the concrete, cradling my head in my hands. I knew then that I would never be able to forget. I wouldn't be able to pretend that I was happy because I never would be happy. Not unless I was with Him.

A shuddering sob escaped my tightly wound chest. No matter how hard I squeezed my eyes shut, I couldn't keep the overwhelming tears from escaping. Surely, they blended well with the rain drops. My body shook and I fought to regain control, failing miserably. He was the entire reason for my life, and therefore, my life was gone.

Still blinded by tears, I managed to pull myself up from the ground and take a few steps toward Angela's house. Though the sky had darkened due to the time change, the rain still fell steadily. My wet jeans slopped on the ground. As I picked up pace, I slowly began to breath with more ease. Coherency was in my grasp again, and I realized that if I didn't hurry, I wouldn't have dinner made in time.

In my car, I checked my reflection in the rear view mirror. As expected, my skin had betrayed me. It was red, swollen and splotchy. I drove quickly, trembling even though the heater was on. "Thank god," I muttered when I saw the empty driveway. He would probably be home in the next half an hour, so I settled on making something quick and fairly easy for dinner: spaghetti and meatballs.

After setting a pot of water on the stove to boil, I tossed a premade load of garlic bread in the over and began shaping meatballs. I didn't spice them up like I normally would have, just the basic seasonings, and then I was cooking them alongside the linguini. Dan walked in the door just as I was pouring the sauce into a pan.

"Hey babe," he called out, clearly in a good mood.

"Hi," I replied, silently urging the noodles to cook faster. I heard his approaching footsteps and I quickly switched off the heat on the stove. "Dinner's just about done." He stopped right behind me and I felt his hand on my shoulder.

"Why are your clothes wet?" he asked, running his hands along the sides of my shirt and jeans. I bit my lip, realizing I had forgotten to change, never mind the fact that he was invading my personal space.

"Oh…I had some car troubles at the gas station and I got wet waiting for help." It wasn't a complete lie....

"What happened?"

"I think the engine stalled, but I could be wrong. I just needed spark plugs and it was fine."

"Oh. You should have called me. Who helped you?" he asked.

"I just called Angela. She brought the cables." His hand rested on the fabric of my jeans.

"Why don't you have your own set of cables?" his hand was moving again.

"I never occurred to me to get any. I'll buy some the next chance I get," I answered, moving to the cabinet to get a strainer. He walked out of the kitchen and I heard him settle on the sofa. Moving quickly, I drained the noodles and pulled the bread out of the oven. He smiled when he saw me set his plate down on the table. Then I realized why he was in such a good mood. He wanted something. Dan probably thought that I would respond to him one of these days, it would just take several hundred beatings to get it through my head.

It always started out the same way, with the sweet talking and genuinely good mood. Then the disappointment would set in, quickly followed by a flash of anger that wouldn't fade until he had fallen asleep. I bit the inside of my cheek and sat down across from him at the table. "How was your day?" I asked tentatively.

He shrugged and took a bite out of his bread. "It was a day." I felt his hot stare as I looked down to twirl more spaghetti onto my fork. "Everything okay?" he asked, taking a swig out of his glass. I nodded.

"Yeah, why?"

"Are you lying to me?" he asked.

"No," I said slowly, praying my voice wouldn't tremble, as it was threatening to do. He seemed to accept it. We finished eating in silence, and I cleared the table, thankful to get away from his constant stares.

"Hey, I gotta go get a couple things, be here when I get back, okay?" Dan said, pulled his jacket on.

"Sure thing," I called over the running water from the sink. I head the door shut and set down the dish that I was cleaning. I moved slowly toward the couch and stretched my body across it, gripping anything that I could. I knew what would happen as soon as Dan got back home, and I knew I couldn't handle it. Handling it was hard enough on a good day. My body would freeze up like it did on that first night, and he would only react twice as bad.

My breathing was uneven because of the fear that bubbled inside of me. Maybe if I 'fell asleep' he would leave me alone? As I chewed on that thought, the phone rang. I sighed and slumped forward, fumbling for the cordless phone.

"Hello?"

"Bella?" I recognized the voice on the other end.

"Mom?"

"Hi baby," she said, sounding happy. "Are you all right? You sound upset," she asked.

"Yeah, it's just been a long day is all," I said. "So how are you?" I asked. "How's Phil?"

"Oh, Phil's fine. He likes working at the high school, the kids respect him. I'm doing all right, things are pretty much the same. I still miss you though."

"I miss you too," I said out of sheer habit even though it was true. There was an awkward silence.

"Bella, can I ask you something?"

"Sure," I said. "Anything."

"Well, it may not be any of my business because you're an adult now, but I've been worried about you. Are things going okay between you and Dan?" I knew exactly how to answer that question.

"Of course they are, mom," I said. Unfortunately, my voice broke on the last word, almost giving everything away..

"Bella?"

"Really mom, everything's fine."

"I'll take your word for it," she sighed in surrender. "Anyways, I'll call you tomorrow morning, okay? I just want to check in, you sound pretty worn down."

"Okay, I love you," I said. After I hung up, I had forgotten about falling asleep. It was too late now because I heard Dan's car pull up to the house. I got up and walked back into the kitchen to finish cleaning up.

My body tightened, folded in on itself, as I heard the front door close again. I braced myself for the illegitimate torture that seemed to be a package deal in this brilliant stage of my life.

EPOV

Returning to Forks was much easier than I thought it would be. My body seemed to crave it, just the memories that I placed so sacredly held were enough to revive a small chunk within me. The house was exactly the same, with the exception of the dust that had piled on top of the furniture.

When we left, we never took much. With every house we bought came a new set of belongings, including pianos, clothes and furniture. The house still smelled like her in certain spots, my room especially. It was driving me insane because I needed more. My body was completely dependent upon Bella to survive. I had no idea of how I survived this long without her.

At the same time, I fought against massive waves of anger that attacked every nerve in my body. I shouldn't have been doing this; I promised I would never bother her. But Carlisle said she would…die? It was too painful for me to imagine.

I ran my fingertips across the shelves in my room, remembering the last time I had stood in here with her. Getting Rosalie and Emmett—well, just Rosalie—to agree to come back was a challenge, but they finally agreed. Esme hadn't stopped smiling since she laid eyes upon me. I was like the Holy Grail.

I wanted nothing more that to be able to hold her in my arms, to make every bruise and cut and scar go away. The Bella that I had seen through Alice's mind sent tremors through my entire body. I crushed the door in my hand as soon as the first image hit me. Then I couldn't keep myself from crying out in agony. What had I done to her?

When Alice came running into my room, I could see the fear in her eyes. Then it was like a motion picture flashing through my mind. Just miles away, somebody was hurting her as we spoke, in the worst possible way. It was like Port Angeles all over again, only so much more vivid and actually happening.

"No!" I screamed. She shook her head silently.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. Then she saw what I was about to do. "JASPER!" she screamed. The two of them suddenly locked me into place and I struggled against their arms, dangerously close to winning. Then Emmett stepped in and I knew I had lost. They held me down, not letting up until Jasper felt I was stable enough.

"Edward, no," Alice said gently. Killing him now won't do any good.

"Alice, he's hurting her. He deserves to die."

"I know," she said.

"What's he doing?" Emmett asked. Jasper elbowed him.

"Later," he hissed. I tried to shake the images from my head, but every time I blinked, her pained face would flash behind my eyes, the silver tear that slipped down the side of her cheek. Alice managed to keep me there for the next two hours.

"It's safe," she muttered, allowing me to return to my normal routine. Things would be slightly different now. I wasn't sure if I could calmly watch Bella sleep, knowing there was someone else there. Someone who deliberately put her in pain—almost in the same way I had, I was sure.

It was easy enough to find her new home; Bella's scent was everywhere. I followed it until I come to the main source. I stopped breathing when I finally laid eyes on her. Bella was sleeping in what appeared to be the guest bedroom.

Her face was wet and her skin glistened in the light that she had left on. She slept in the fetal position, guarding her body unconsciously. I wondered home many times this had happened and accidently snapped a chunk of wood off of her windowsill. I made a mental note to fix it as soon as the house was empty.

The fury that burned inside of me was almost enough to tear me away from her so I could find whoever this person was. I knew he was in another room in the house. The sudden thought crossed my mind that maybe she was married? I didn't see a ring on her hand, but it was a possibility. Bella wouldn't be so thoughtless as to marry somebody like that. I told myself.

I looked over at Bella, my eyes locking in on her face. I stayed that way until the first light began to show and I heard someone else moving around in the house. It was him.

Moving so I wouldn't do anything that I would later regret, I ran back to the house. Alice was waiting, as I expected.

"Well?" she asked. I simply shook my head and moved to sit on the couch.

"I don't know how to do this," I confessed. "It's too late. There's too much that I could destroy."

"Edward, Bella is stuck in an abusive marriage," she said. I looked up slowly, dread seeping into my stomach.

"You knew she was married?" She nodded.

"I saw something about it, but I wasn't sure until a little while ago. I knew things would be bad, but I didn't expect…"

I was filled with such hatred toward myself that it was impossible for me to speak. I was torn; should I leave now? I couldn't possible cause Bella anymore pain by leaving when she didn't even know I was here in the first place. If I stayed, several outcomes were possible, and most of them not good.

"Don't even think about leaving," Alice hissed at me. "She'll be happy in the end, I know that much. Please, don't make me think about what will happen to her if you go," she said. I looked up and the images flickered through my head, causing me to wince and suck in a deep breath. "You could try calling her," she guessed.

"Don't be ridiculous, Alice," I muttered.

"What's the worst she could do? Hang up the phone? Popping up out of nowhere won't turn out so swell."

"I don't have her telephone number, she moved." I was adamant about it, so sure that I should turn around and leave this place again. Alice surprised me by flicking a folded piece of paper at me, and a series of numbers were written across it. I sighed.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and slowly punched in the numbers.

BPOV

My entire body screamed when I woke up. I felt violated and weak. The only pleasant thing about waking up was that I was alone. My shower was welcoming, numbing even though I could feel the water against my skin like needles.

I stumbled down the stairs to find the bottle of Tylenol in the kitchen. As I wrestled with the bottle, trying to pry the cap open, the phone rang. I reached over the counter and pinned the phone between my ear and shoulder.

"Hello?" I asked, still struggling with the bottle.

"Bella?" A familiar, musical voice asked. I gasped, praying that I wasn't hearing things. After my conversation last night, I expected it to be Renee, but I got the sense that I was very wrong. I couldn't have gone crazy, could I? My arm jolted and the bottle flew across the room. The cap flew off when it hit the floor and the caplets flew all over the place. I hadn't realized it, but the phone had slipped from my hand in this process as well, sending the batteries into the mess of pills all over the floor.

Holy Schnitzel! I guess this means that he's in it for good, huh? And to be honest, I've always been more of an Advil person :)