BPOV

"Do you want to go for a walk?" I asked, trying to casually break through the tension in the air.

"You can't walk, you'll tear the stitches." His reply was robotic, very monotonous.

"Well..how about to the balcony?" I asked, desperate. He looked so broken, like a marionette. Silently, he walked forward and scooped me into his arms. Everyone else went back to what they were doing, not making a single sound. Edward carried me outside and set me down on a plush deck chair. It was obviously meant for sunbathing…too bad it was completely overcast today and rain all the time.

Edward leaned against the railing and stared across at the view from the hotel. Even his breathing seemed labored.

"Are you mad at me?" I asked, childishly. I didn't know what else to say. He was quiet for a few moments more.

"I could never be angry with you," he muttered.

"Then why are you acting like someone's died? What happened is in the past, and we need to move on."

"Bella?" he asked quietly.

"Yes?"

"Did you ever say no to him? Did you ever try to stop him?" He turned around to face me. It hurt to look at him. I thought carefully, composing my response.

"In the beginning, I tried to," I answered, honestly. Well, I did try…just not very hard.

"And after?" He asked. "What did you do then?" I closed my eyes, knowing he would be mortified at the truth.

"Do you want me to tell you honestly?" I asked, hoping he would say no. I knew he wouldn't.

"Of course. I wouldn't want anything else, Bella."

I took a few steadying breaths, feeling the tears coming. "I just let it happen after that." Suddenly, he looked furious. My first instinct was to flinch, but I reminded myself that I wasn't standing here with Dan. I was standing here with Edward.

"Why? How could you just let something like that happen?" His voice cracked and ran ran his fingers through his already wild hair.

"You won't like what I have to say, Edward. Can't you just let it go and move on?"

"No," he shook out. "I can't. I can't bear the thought anything bad happening to you. Don't you understand that? This is my fault, and I don't know how to fix it."

"Edward…" I said slowly. He moved and sat down next to me. "When you left, you took my soul with you. All that was left was just a being of pain. I left more alive when he was abusing me than I did when I was alone with only my memories. I thought I wasn't good enough for you. Do you know what that did to me?"

"I left because I thought—" I cut him off.

"I know why you left, Edward." He suddenly shuddered.

"You promised me you wouldn't do anything reckless," he accused, retaliating.

"I never promised. You just asked me to promise for you. You're the one who told me it would be like you'd never existed. And you lied. I tried to make myself forget, and I couldn't do it. I used Dan to cover the pain, to make me forget for small fragments of time." He shuddered again. "Is this what you want? For me to talk about the past and how horrible it was without you? Thinking about it still hurts Edward, because I feel like at any given moment, you're going to leave again." He sat silently with his eyes closed. I wrapped my arms around him as best I could and rested my read on his shoulder.

"No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't make myself stop loving you. At some point, I realized I didn't want to."

Without warning, he pulled me into his arms and rocked back and forth gently. I breathed in his scent, loving him unconditionally.

"Did you mean what you said to Rosalie?" he finally asked.

"Every word," I said. He wanted the truth. It was better than walking on eggshells.

"I won't be able to give you a child, Bella," he said, staring into my eyes. I was mesmerized for a moment.

"I know that. I don't care. I'll have you, and that's all that matters."

"You know I'll never leave you again. I can't do it again. I hardly lived through it the first time. Another time and I'd run to the Volturi's doorstep, begging for death."

I stiffed and narrowed my eyes into a glare. "You mean those people that Carlisle used to live with?" I asked. He'd mentioned them once in high school.

"The very ones." He paused for a moment to brush my hair out of my face. "Bella, you are my life, my very reason for existence. Nothing could take me away from you."

"We need to go get divorce papers," I said suddenly. "When it's finalized, you're changing me. And then you can't get rid of me. Ever."

Edward smiled lightly and cradled my face. "I wouldn't dream of it."

"We'll start our new life together. I'll truly be a part of the family, and none of this will matter."

"Soon," he promised.

"I honestly don't know how I'll feel the day Dan dies…" I trailed off. "I might laugh…but I might cry. I'll tell you one thing, though," I said.

"What's that?" Edward asked, clearly calmed down.

"I feel of like a cougar."

"What?" he exclaimed, appalled. I giggled, victorious over the fact that I'd successfully saved the day.

"Well, you're four years younger than me. You're seventeen and I'm almost twenty two."

Edward rolled his eyes, but pulled me closer to his chest and kissed my forehead. "Uh..Edward," I said, suddenly having the courage to spill absolutely everything that was on my mind.

"Yes, love?"

"Can I ask you one more thing before we go inside?"

"Of course. You shouldn't feel the need to ask me about asking questions." I took a deep breath, knowing he most likely wouldn't like what I was about to request. I knew he wouldn't want me anywhere near Dan after asking this.

"I know you probably would love nothing more than to murder Dan viciously right now. And I not completely opposed to the idea of it, really, but I kind of had something different in mind…" I trailed off. He eyed me doubtfully.

"You think there's a better way to deal with him?" He asked. I nodded my head.

"Well, I was wondering if, um, you know, because he has such an important job and has gained so much…merit, I guess if you can call it—" Edward cut me off.

"Bella, you're rambling. Spit it out."

I huffed and tried to compose myself. "I want him to go to jail and rot there for a little while. I want him to be trapped there and surrounded by men who are just as evil on the inside as he is."

Edward was silent next to me, thinking. He had that far away look in his eyes.

"You do know that doing so would involve a trial? And your father would be a part of it."

"I know. He needs to know the truth, Edward. I don't want to lie to him, and disappearing like this isn't right. I thought it was, but I know it's not. And what's to say Dan doesn't pick up another helpless girl and destroy her?" I explained my reasoning calmly, and Edward flinched. Eventually, he sighed.

"Damn it," he practically growled. "Sometimes, I wish Alice wasn't always right." He closed his eyes and shook his head. "If that's what you really want, then we'll do it."

"What do you mean about Alice being right?" I asked, curious.

"She saw this whole trial idea as a possibility and started gathering…evidence," he said carefully.

"What kind of evidence?" I asked, now concerned.

"She took pictures of the marks on your body. The bruises before the accident, the damage after the accident. And Carlisle has the scans he took of you last week, plus your medical file."

"He has my medical file?" I asked.

"It's what brought us back to Forks," Edward mumbled. "He was curious one day and decided to look it up. God only knows why, but seeing how many accidents you'd had over the duration of our absence left us with little choice but to make sure you were okay."

"Oh," I said quietly. "Well, it's a good thing then."

"Bella…" he trailed off. "Are you really sure you want to do this? A hearing would mean having to face Dan and recount a lot of very painful memories."

"Do you think I'd win?" I asked. "Tell me honestly."

"Without a doubt. I know you would win, but that doesn't mean the experience won't be painful and difficult."

"Then it will be worth it to me. I'd like to get a lawyer as soon as possible," I said. "And I'm going to need to call Charlie."

"Don't worry about the lawyer," Edward said. I sighed, agitated.

"You are not paying for this. No." I was firm, asserting myself. "This is my mess, I need to do it myself."

"Relax, love," Edward said gently. "We wouldn't be spending any money." He scooped me up into his arms and carried me back into the room. Esme was still cooking and Alice was tearing through a stack of magazines, obviously trying to keep herself busy. They all turned their attentions toward us.

"I know you heard what we were talking about," I said, breaking the awkward silence. "And I refuse to allow anyone to pay for an attorney. I'll represent myself if I have to." I'm sure it was mighty hard them to take me seriously as I was being cradled in Edward's arms, like a child. Jasper cleared his throat and stood from the couch.

"Actually, Bella, if it's alright with you, I'd like to represent you as your lawyer. It's the least I can do." He seemed nervous, like maybe he'd thought I would reject him. Perhaps this was his way for trying to make up for the paper cut incident all those years ago. I'd forgiven him instantly, but he'd been holding this grudge with himself anyway. Edward set me down gently in a chair and sat on the floor next to me.

"I'd love that, Jasper, thank you," I said with a small smile. He smiled back and nodded his head. "I was just wondering," I said, "when did you go to law school? I didn't know you passed the BAR…"

He cleared his throat and Emmett smirked. "Bella, don't ask questions that you don't want to know the answer to."

I blushed and looked down. "Alright. I'm sure you're better than any lawyer I could get on my own, so I won't ask and you won't tell me." I made a mental note to force Edward to tell me later.

"So, what do we do now?" Rosalie asked. I wasn't used to her being nice to me.

"I need to call my dad…" I said. "Alice, will he be tracing the call?" I asked.

"No," she said. "At least, as far as I can tell, your call won't be traced if you call him at home." I glanced over at the clock on the wall and saw that it was just past 6:30 p.m. He should have been off work by then.

"Can I borrow your phone?" I asked Edward. He pulled it out of his pocket without hesitation and handed it to me. I struggled to get out of the seat so I could walk into the bedroom for some privacy. Edward helped me up and carried me into the other room. He turned to leave, but I stopped him.

"Wait, Edward. Please, will you stay?" I was afraid.

"Yes," he answered automatically, moving to sit across from me on the bed. With a shaking hand, I punched in my father's number and waited for it to right. On the right buzz, he picked up.

"Hello?" His voice sounded different. Tired and worried.

"Dad?" I asked. I heard a stifled moan on the other end.

"Bella? Is that you?" he asked, practically begged into the receiver.

"Yeah, it's me," I mumbled. This was going to be a difficult phone call.

"I've been worried sick about you these past few days, Bell," he said, sounding a little more normal. "I didn't even know if you were alive. We thought maybe you'd been—you just went missing," he shook out.

"I know," I said slowly. "I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? Where the hell are you? The entire state of Washington is out looking for you!"

"I'm, um," I said, looking up at Edward. He nodded his head in encouragement. "I'm with the Cullens. I'm with Edward." There was dead silence on the other end. Finally,

"The Cullens! Edward!" he exploded. "You have a husband here, at home, who's driving himself insane looking for you, and you go off with your ex boyfriend? Isabella Marie Swan, what is wrong with you!" I struggled to breathe calmly. Edward reached forward and grabbed my hand.

"Daddy…" I whispered. He continued yelling.

"That boy has never been good for you. He destroyed you, and Dan was there to put you back together. The least you could do is have some respect! And do you have any idea of how worried sick I've been? This isn't the first time you've done this, you know," he said, still ranting.

"Daddy," I choked out. "Please."

He suddenly stopped yelling.

"You haven't called me that since you were seven years old. Bella, what's wrong?"

"…"

"Bella?" he asked.

"He beats me," I finally managed to croak.

"What?" Charlie gasped. "What are you talking about?"

"Dan. I'm talking about Dan." I took a breath to steady myself. The worst part was over. "He. Beats. Me. Up." I heard the phone clank on the ground on the other end. Charlie had dropped the phone. He quickly picked it up and I heard his labored breathing on the other end.

"Bells," he started. "Why…why didn't you tell me?"

"I was afraid," I said. It was a complete lie. "And Edward saved me."

"Saved you?" Charlie asked. I knew he wasn't fond of Edward at all, but I knew he'd be thankful in the end.

"Yes," I said. "I left with him and his family after the accident. I thought it would be the safest thing to do."

"Accident? What accident?" Charlie asked.

"The car accident…" I trailed off. "Don't you know what happened?"

"No," he said slowly. "What car accident?" Wow.

"On the night of the banquet, Dan drove us home drunk and we got in an accident. A pretty bad one. I left that night, Dad. I couldn't stay with him anymore. I refuse to."

"Oh my god...he was driving drunk? How many laws has this asshole not broken?" Charlie moaned into the phone.

"Dad," I said, before he could any more questions.

"Yeah?"

"I want you to arrest him. I have a lawyer and I want to press charges."

"That's my girl," he said, sounding much better. "I'll do the best I can. When are you coming back?"

"As soon as I can," I replied. "I'm still pretty mangled from the accident."

"Oh," he said quietly. "Well, I love you. You know that, don't you?"

"I love you too, dad."

"Please, stay safe and heal," he said before we said goodbye. I slumped into the pillows and handed Edward back his phone.

"We're all going to have to get our stories straight and have believable alibis, you know," I said suddenly. He chuckled.

"Relax, Bella, we know how this works."

We had some serious planning to do.

AN: Hola! Yes...the story's going all Law and Order: SVU now...MUAHAHAHAH. I love that show...*sigh*. Anyway, how'd you guys like it? Please review and let me know. I was wondering, do you think I should put more EPOV in it or leave it as it is? I've found that sometimes adding his point of view can make things a little mangled, depending on how the author does it, so it's really up to you guys. Anyway, hope everyone's doing well. REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!

Also, on a completely random note...I've decided I want a puppy. Now, whether I get one or not is kind of iffy, but I want a girl...preferably a Husky of some sort...yeah, I know. Dream big. Anyway, I'm fantasizing about names...any ideas?