So thank you all so much for reading and reviewing chapter 9 it brought a smile to my face. So here's chapter 10 for you all. I do not own Twilight or Justified, they are just my inspiration. Enjoy!

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EPOV

I stayed in the club even after she left the stage. I just couldn't believe that she was a stripper. Bella Swan who for the longest time was too shy to wear a bikini was now up on a stage dancing nearly naked for strangers. I couldn't help but have ambivalent feelings towards all of this. I was worried, angry, confused, perplexed, jealous, and maybe even a little turned on by this whole ordeal. I just knew I needed to talk to her.

I made sure when she wasn't backstage my eyes were glued to her worried that a potential customer may get out of hand. No one ever did. She interacted with the two other girls who had been on stage with her like this job was nothing. I kept noticing how she would look around though as if she could feel my eyes on her. Not once though did she cross my path through the night.

Around 1 in the morning I decided to leave the club and wait for her outside. I assumed she should be off soon due to the thinning out of customers. I easily found her old beat up truck that she had since she was 16. I honestly couldn't believe the piece of crap truck still ran.

I was only standing there for about ten minutes tops when I saw her leave the club through the employee's exist. She seemed to be in her own little thought bubble but then she looked up and spotted me. She got a worried look on her face when she met my gaze before taking a deep breath. I knew that by standing near her truck she would have to talk to me instead of ignoring me like none of this ever happened.

"Edward," she spoke attempting to smile but that feel as soon as she saw the serious look on my face. I couldn't help but look her over. She looked gorgeous as ever but I couldn't help but also notice how tired she looked and not just from a long night at work. I stood there no knowing what to say. "Well it was good talking to you but if you have nothing to say I need to be getting home." She spoke up after probably 10 minutes of silence.

She had her hand on the door handle when I let out a sigh. I pinched the bridge of my nose trying to pull myself together before I looked up at her and spoke, "A stripper Bella…really?" I tried my best to keep my voice soft but I couldn't help but let a harshness come out. I just couldn't believe it.

Looking me straight in the eye she replied, "A girls gotta work."

"But as a stripper Bella," I questioned my voice growing ever so louder. "You couldn't have gotten a normal job as a waitress or in retail?"

"Well here's the thing Edward," she spoke her voice also rising in volume. "The economy is crap, I have not only my own mouth to feed but a child's, and I lost what ever source of income my shit head of an ex-husband had been using to help keep a roof over our head. So yeah I wasn't going to get all that picky with what job I was going to get, especially when no one was hiring!"

I began to run my hand through my already wild hair as I frantically spoke. I just didn't understand this, didn't understand her. I wanted to understand…or honestly maybe I didn't. Was I just opening a can of worms? "But you could get a better job then this or even what I just said! You were almost done getting your English/Lit degree at the University of Washington. What the fuck happened to that?!"

"Are you that fucking dumb Edward," Bella yelled at me.

"Apparently I am," I yelled right back throwing my hands into the air, "Because I can't see why you would ignore your degree to become a stripper."

"Well I can't ignore something I don't have," she screamed. Her eyes filled with anger, sadness, guilt, and even maybe some shame.

"What the fuck do you mean by that?"

"It means I fucking dropped out of college before I could get my degree that's what it fucking means, Jesus and you're suppose to be the smart one."

"Why the hell would you drop out and limit yourself like that. You had so much potential Bella. What were you so busy with that made you not put school first?!" I couldn't believe what I was hearing from her. School had always been important to Bella, she loved to learn. She would refuse to miss a class. I just hated that she would limit herself like this, limit her potential to make money and have a job she could love. Something that I said though struck her off, even more so then the rest of the conversation. I watched her face go red and her tiny hands ball up into fists.

"Fuck you Edward Anthony Masen," she yelled, "I dropped out because I was fucking pregnant!"

And with that I calmed down. How could I have been so stupid? I mean did I think she was more then capable to raise a daughter and go to school, yes, Bella was intelligent she could always juggle multiple tasks before. But I knew, not from first hand experience of course, that raising a child was different. Bella once again selflessly put others before her own wants and needs. Still I couldn't help but wonder if it was a money thing, what about her father? Why would she have to sink so low on the job scale? Her father was always a generous man. "What about Charlie," I asked softly.

At the mention of Charlie's name she flinched. She had a moment of sadness that I couldn't quite place flash before her eyes before she grew angry. "What about him? Yeah I bet he would be disappointed in his little girl. She couldn't finish her degree, she couldn't be a wife, and now she's fucking stripping to pay for her fatherless child."

What she said made me sad because we both knew she was wrong. Or maybe she didn't know that maybe that was something that got ingrained in her mind that she wasn't good enough. "I was going to say isn't he helping you? He was already paying for your schooling I can't see him stopping only because you got pregnant. I mean he loves you more then life itself anyone can see that. He would never be disappointed with you." I looked at her softly before taking a slow step towards her.

Her eyes filled with tears and started to shake ever so slightly. "He's dead Edward," she whispered.

"What?!" Edward gasped. "When how?!" I couldn't believe it. I mean I had just been thinking about getting into contact with him to see if he could be any help on the case. He couldn't be gone. I had known him all my life. Why hadn't anyone let me know about that?

"Four months into my pregnancy," she spoke as tears rolled down her cheeks. "He didn't even get to meet her. He wanted to meet her so bad." I watched helplessly for a moment as she started sliding to the ground. I quickly jumped into action though when I realized she was staying down on the ground and her soft crying became sobs. It broke my heart to see her like this. Since I had been back I hadn't doubted that her life had been rough, but what I had found out in the past ten minutes just proved how hard she had been living.

Carefully I picked her up hoping the gravel on the ground hadn't done too much damage to her bare knees. As I cradled her in my arms I felt her keys poke through her front pocket of her jeans and I couldn't help but be grateful that finding her keys was simple enough. Unlocking the door I gently placed her in the passenger seat of her truck before getting in myself.

As I drove to her house she continued to sob. I spoke soft words to her but she didn't seem to respond to them. I'm not sure if she could even hear me. I really didn't know what to do; I wish I could just make it all better. Soon enough I pulled up to her house. Shutting off the car I then went around and collected her. When I picked her up this time she quickly snuggled into the crook of her neck and although I could still feel and hear her crying her sobs calmed considerably. I couldn't help but catch her scent when I held her in my arms. Her hair still smelled just as I had remembered; like strawberries. That mixed with her natural scent made the most perfect smell, if I could bottle her scent it would make me a rich man, I was sure of it. I cherished that smell just in case in the morning she realized she wanted nothing else to do with me. Hopefully I could keep that scent in my memory better then I had over the last five years.

There's chapter 10. Sorry it took me so long. Hope you all enjoy!

Write on,

Spunkransom12