Hey everyone. Sorry its been so long since the last update, things have been a little crazy. I was gonna post this chapter last week but, unfortunately, we had to put my dog, Kas, to sleep last Tuesday :'(. It's been an emotional week in our family. She had been a part of our family since I was six years old, and I'm now 19 so I've grown up with her.

Anyway, enough about my crazy life, I'll let you carry on with the chapter.

I hope you like it. See you at the bottom.

Chapter 6 BPOV

Counseling

After having a long talk that night, mom and I decided to make appointments with a therapist that Carlisle Cullen recommended. Mom called and set up an appointment for me for the following week.

The week past and before I knew it was Wednesday, the day of my appointment. Mom was busy at work so she wasn't able to go with me, which is how I found myself sitting alone outside a therapist's office bouncing my knee, waiting for her to call me in. I felt someone sit down beside me and looked up to see familiar green eyes.

"Edward, what are you doing here?"

"I went to visit my mom after work and saw your mom. She said she wasn't able to come with you so I volunteered. She told me where you were."

"You didn't have to…" he cut me off.

"I know, but I didn't think this was something you should have to do alone. And your mom agreed."

I smiled. "Thank you," I told him gratefully.

We had been sitting in silence for ten minutes when his hand rested on my knee.

"Stop jiggling your knee," he said as he squeezed. He smiled at me crookedly and moved his hand.

"Isabella Swan," a woman called. "Doctor Sanchez is ready for you."

I nodded and stood up. I paused and looked back at Edward, who gave me an encouraging smile.

"I'll be right here when you get out, Bella."

I smiled and walked into the room.

Doctor Sanchez was a beautiful tan woman with flowing ebony hair that fell down her back in curls and deep brown eyes that were so dark, they were almost black. She was seated in a rich brown leather chair with a note pad, recorder and pen resting on her lap. She smiled kindly when she saw me and motioned for me to come in.

"Good afternoon, Isabella. I'm Doctor Sanchez, but please call me Carmen. Take a seat." She motioned to the couch across from her.

"It's Bella, and thanks. Do you want me to lay down?" I joked but sat in the middle of the long couch uncomfortably.

"Do what you wish," she said kindly. "Now, we're gonna start out simply today. We'll just be getting to know each other to make sure you feel comfortable with me. Does that sound okay?" I nodded and she began asking questions about myself.

Sometime later she brought up my dad and I went rigid, still not comfortable with talking about him, even though the whole town now knew.

"Bella, can I ask why you froze when I mentioned your father?"

I took a deep breath. "I lost my father a year ago."

"I'm very sorry about that. We won't talk too much about that today but can I ask if that is the reason you're here today?"

I nodded. "I feel sad and angry, mostly angry, all the time. I'm taking it out on everyone around me."

"That's very normal in a situation involving the loss of someone, in particular a parent or close relative. Were you close with your father?" I nodded and wiped a tear from my eye. "Are you an only child?" I nodded again and she wrote something down. "Our time is up right now but I would like to continue talking about your father next time okay? Perhaps you could tell me what happened to him?" I nodded and stood up. I thanked her quietly and walked out of the room, feeling exhausted.

When I got out, Edward was still sitting in the same chair he had been in when I went in. he looked up and put the book he had been reading back into his backpack.

"Hey, how'd it go?"

I nodded. "Okay. She just asked me a ton of questions, seeing if I felt comfortable talking and sharing things with her."

He stood up and looked into my eyes for a few moments before nodding. "Okay. You hungry?"

I nodded. "Starving, but I should probably get home and make dinner."

"My mom is buying your mom dinner because they've gotta work late."

"Oh."

"Wanna get some food?" I nodded and he smiled. He picked up both of our backpacks and carried them out. He walked me to my car and put my bag in the passenger seat. "I know a place not far. Follow me?" I nodded. "See you in a few."

He walked away and climbed into his own car. I got in and waited for him to go and then trailed behind him. A few minutes later we pulled up to a small restaurant.

When we had finished, it was nearing six thirty and Edward insisted on following me to my house to make sure I got home okay. Nothing I said could convince him it was a stupid idea so I simply climbed into my car and made my way home.

When I parked in front of my house, I got out and locked the car and was about to walk up the path to my front door when I heard Edward climb out of his car. I turned around and he stopped in front of me.

"Thanks for coming with me today. I know I said you didn't need to, but I was glad not to be alone."

"You're welcome. If you need me to come again, let me know."

I nodded. "I will. Thanks for dinner too."

We were silent for a few moments and I saw him leaning in. I thought about leaning back and stopping him but a part of me wanted to know what his lips would feel like pressed against mine. I closed my eyes and felt the pressure of his soft lips. He pulled back for a second before leaning in again, adding a bit more pressure. I kissed him back for a few minutes before I leaned back, both of us breathing heavy.

"Do you feel it? This connection between us?" he asked.

I nodded. "But it doesn't change anything. I meant what I said before; I'm in such a bad place…"

"I know. You're in a bad place and if you had known me a year ago, we'd probably be on our millionth date by now. I'm not asking you out again, I just wanted to know if you felt it."

I smiled. "Oh, well, yeah, I do."

He grinned. "Good. See you tomorrow at school." And with that, he turned around, climbed in his car and drove off with a wave in my direction.

"Can you tell me what happened to your dad?" Carmen asked.

I took a few deep breaths. It was my second session and I could tell as soon as I sat down that it wasn't gonna be as easy as the first was.

"Um, he was a soldier. He'd been based in Syria since January last year; he'd been in Iraq before that. In the middle of May last year, my mom got a letter saying that a roadside bomb had gone off near his convoy. He died instantly," I told her as I cried.

"You told me last week that you felt ad and angry, but mostly angry." I nodded. "Tell me why."

I frowned, starting to get annoyed. "Why am I sad? I lost my fucking dad."

"Why are you angry?"

"Because I lost my dad," I yelled.

"Okay. Is that it?"

I stood up, feeling really pissed off. "What the fuck do you mean 'is that it'? Isn't that enough? My dad isn't here! He fucking left me all by myself."

"Now we're getting somewhere. Sit back down, please, Bella." I sat down slowly. "Do you know what you've just said to me?" I shrugged. "You said you're angry because your dad left you all by yourself. Is that how you really feel?" I shrugged. "If this is going to help, I need you to talk to me."

"Yeah, I guess. He always promised me that he wouldn't leave. When I was little, I thought he meant literally. So every time he came home, I got so happy because he kept his promise. I guess as I got older, I kinda knew in my head that he didn't mean it literally. He was telling me that, even if he didn't come back, he'd always be with me, watching over me. But when we got that letter, saying he really wasn't coming back, I felt like a little girl again. I forgot the rational part of me that knew he wasn't talking literally and I felt betrayed. Like he'd broken a promise."

Carmen nodded while she wrote on her notepad. "Who was that good looking young man I was you leave with last week?"

I was confused by her change of topic but was glad to not be talking about my dad. "Um, that was Edward. He's a friend."

"He looked at you like you were more than a friend."

I shrugged. "He asked me out once, and I said no." I was debating whether or not to tell her about our kiss, but decided that if I was going to talk to her, I might as well tell her everything. "And last week, after therapy, we went to get some food and he followed me home to make sure I got there okay, and he kissed me."

"Did you kiss him back?" I blushed, embarrassed to be talking about this with a woman I had only met once before. She smiled at my embarrassment. "I'll take that as a yes. Why'd you say no when he asked you out?"

"I'm not ready to be dating. I mean, I've just started calling him my friend."

"Why is that?"

"I didn't want friends. I just wanted to get through the rest of junior year and senior year and then leave."

"So how did you become friends?"

"My mom made me promise to try and make friends before we moved here. I agreed but never really tried. They wouldn't give up, though."

"They?"

I nodded. "Edward and his four friends; Alice, Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie. And Angela and her boyfriend, Ben."

"Why did you promise your mom to try if you didn't want friends?"

"It was easier. We had been arguing a lot since my dad's funeral so it was easier to let that one go and get her off my back."

"Arguing about what?" she asked, redirecting the subject.

"Everything; the color of my dad's coffin, our move to Washington, her deciding she wanted to go out for dinner when I had already started dinner, her starting to date again."

"By the tone of your voice I assume that last one was the worst?" I nodded. "Tell me about it."

I sighed, not liking all of the heavy subjects. "I heard a message on the answering machine from a guy telling her he had fun at lunch and wanted to know if she's be interested in having dinner."

"What did you do?"

I bit my lip. "I stole a bottle of vodka and left the house. Edward's dad, Carlisle, found me passed out at the park with the empty bottle and took me home."

"And that's when you argued?"

I shook my head. "It was the morning after. I stayed home from school and she called in sick to work."

"Can you tell me what was said during your fight that made it the worst you've had?"

Cheating on dad. "Um." Wasn't the first time…dad's body wasn't even cold…jumped into bed with the next guy you met. "I don't." Don't even care…don't even miss dad. "Remember."

She gave me a lot and nodded. "Okay. Well our time is up for today. I've got some homework for you to do and I want you to bring it with you next session. It shouldn't take you too long."

"Okay."

"I want you to write down what happened during yours and your mom's fight. Have a good week."

"Thank you for bring that, Bella," Carmen said as she took the piece of paper off of me. She didn't read it, she just folded it up and put it on the table beside her. "Have you had a good week?"

I shrugged. "It' been okay."

"How's Edward?"

I frowned. "Fine."

"You said to me last week that you didn't want friends; that you just wanted to get through the rest of high school and then leave. Why didn't you want friends?"

"I just didn't wanna deal with people."

"Deal with people, you mean talk to them, hang out like normal friends? Or deal with people in general?"

I thought for a moment. "In general, I guess. I never talked to anyone. If no-one spoke to me I'd go days without talking. I only spoke to them when they asked me questions. I spoke to my mom a bit more but not much more."

"Sounds to me like you were trying to distance yourself. Is that what you felt yourself doing?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I guess. I didn't wanna involve myself in anything. I didn't wanna let anyone in."

"Why is that?"

"I don't know."

"You do. Think for a minute."

I got annoyed. "You obviously think you know why so why don't you tell me and make things a lot easier."

She shook her head. "My job isn't to tell you how you feel. My job is to talk you through so that you can figure out how you feel. If I just told you, it wouldn't help."

I rolled my eyes but thought about what she said. "I guess the reason I didn't wanna let anyone in because I'm afraid that if I let them get to close they'll leave like my dad did."

She nodded and wrote something down. "Do you think that's why you argued with your mom so much?"

I shrugged. "Yeah I guess."

"So all of the anger you let out to your mom was really anger that you felt towards your father."

I nodded. "Yeah."

She thought for a minute. "You said last week that you and your mom argued about your move to Forks. Why is that?"

"I didn't wanna move and she did."

"Why didn't you want to move?"

"Because that's my home," I snapped at her.

"A lot of people would argue that your home is where your family is."

"And I agree with that."

"But your mom is in Forks."

"But my dad is in Cherokee!" I yelled.

She sat calmly and smiled. "That's an interesting thing to say. Why do you believe that your dad is in Cherokee?"

I didn't answer for a minute. "Because that's where he's buried."

"So you feel like your mom took you away from him when she moved you here?"

I shrugged, something I had noticed that I had done a lot since starting therapy. "I dunno. Maybe. I mean that's where his grave is. And before we moved, that was the only place I could go to feel like he was still with me. I'd visit his grave and talk to him and it felt like he was listening. I lost that when we moved here."

"It's not uncommon for someone to feel close to someone they've lost when visiting their grave; that's why a lot of people go to the graves of people they've lost when they need someone to talk to; whether something good is happening in their lives, or they feel lonely. But it's important to understand that, no matter where you are, you can still talk to your father. You do not need to be beside his grave to feel close to him." I nodded. "We're out of time for today but I have another piece of homework for you to do. This one might take a bit longer."

"Okay."

"I want you to make something for your dad; maybe a plant or a plaque in your backyard dedicated to him. It's completely up to you. But I want you to make something in a place that you'd feel comfortable going to when you feel the need to talk to your father. It can simply be a picture of him on your desk. But whenever you feel the need to speak to him, go to that place."

"I'm sorry, doc," I said, using the nickname I had given her. I felt that calling her Carmen was too informal, but Doctor Sanchez was too formal," but how is this gonna help?"

"Well, it will help you to understand that you don't need to visit his grave every day to speak to him. Just having a small space in your house or garden dedicated to him can help you to feel closer and, hopefully, start the healing process."

I was skeptical but promised to try.

"So, prom is coming up," the doc commented.

I had just finished showing her the pictures of the area my mom and I had made for my dad in our back yard. When I got home after therapy and told her the homework I had been set, she was ecstatic and told me that we would start that weekend.

When Saturday came, I was woken up early by my mom who dragged me out of bed. I walked into the backyard to start and saw Alice, Jasper, Rosalie, Emmett, Edward and all of their families, who my mom had somehow convinced to help us.

It took us all weekend but we managed to dedicate an area at the back of the garden to my dad, which was decorated with colorful flowers and a plaque with his name, the date he was born, the date he died and a short poem saying that we missed him. Alice had even found a small bench that was placed in front of it, saying that she didn't think my dad would be happy if his baby girl sat on the wet grass to talk to him. I cried and hugged her when she told me. It was strange that, even though she never met him, she knew that was the kind of thing he would say.

I was expecting doc to talk more about my dad after looking at the pictures of the garden and was surprised when she brought up prom.

"I know."

"Are you going?"

I snorted. "No."

"Why not?"

"I have just started feeling like a normal person again, and even that is not a daily thing. I don't think I'm quite ready to dress up in an overpriced gown and drink spiked punch."

"Has anyone asked you?"

I sighed. "No."

"Not even Edward?"

"No."

"Are you mad that Edward hasn't asked you, given your kiss a few weeks back?"

"You ask a lot of fucking questions."

She smiled widely, her pearly white teeth gleaming. "How are things with your mom?"

She didn't bring up prom for the rest of the session until the very end.

"Another homework assignment this week." I groaned, making her laugh. "I want you to go shopping for a prom dress."

"Why? I told you I'm not going."

"I know. But just go shopping. Maybe you'll find one you like and it will change your mind."

So the weekend after, Alice, Rosalie and I drove into Seattle to look at prom dresses.

Surprisingly, Alice found hers almost straight away. Rosalie was next and it wasn't until she yelled at me for not trying that I found one that, unfortunately, I loved.

Looks like I was going to prom.

So, Bella's going to prom!

I really like this chapter because, apart from the dinner with Edward, we get a peek into Bella's first couple of therapy sessions. Do we think she's getting better?

I promise it won't take as long for me to post the next chapter but I do start my second year of university on Friday so I'll try and update as quickly as I can.

Once again, reviews are always welcome. They make me so happy :)