Boredom is a great cause for writing. This turned out to be the longest chapter so far. As it's gonna be revealed as you read the chapter there was a lot for Bella to get off her chest to Mr. Sparkles...sorry, I mean, Edward...really, no offense by that. No hard feelings towards him or anything.

Oh and I want to apologize in advance for the slightly awkward first part of the conversation. I have no idea where it came from, but it does have a little bit of meaning to some things that will happen later on in the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything...well, except for the plot I guess.

Chapter 3

I hadn't even been in Forks for a little over 24 hours and he was already here. I could tell he was here for one thing and one thing only without him even saying anything. He wanted me to come back to Alaska with him. Well sorry to rain on his parade, but I wasn't budging. I was staying right here in Forks for as long as it took for my memory to return. And there was absolutely nothing he could do or say to make me think or do otherwise.

I stood at the top of the porch steps looking down at him. I didn't make any attempt to move towards him. I just didn't feel the draw to be near him when we talked like I use to. He no longer had the power to make me swoon and fall into him every time he was around. His power was null and void to me now. Part of me wasn't happy about it, the part of me that was still stuck living in the past. But there was an even bigger part of me that was happy and jumping for joy at the feeling of being free from whatever he had once had over me.

"Why are you here, Edward?" I asked, wrapping my arms around myself in a protective sort of stance; It was a big habit of mine, always had been and always would be.

"I'm here to take you back to Alaska with me," Edward answered, making a move to step closer to me.

I shook my head quickly and argued, "No, you're not. 'Cause I'm not going."

"Then I am staying here," Edward replied.

I shook my head again more prominently. "No, you're not."

"Bella, you're my wife..." Edward started to protest.

I cut him off instantly not wanting to hear what else he had to say. "Am I really?" I asked surprising both of us with my question looking down at my hands, playing with them nervously in front of me.

I had been wondering lately about if we were truly considered married or not? I didn't see why we would be considered truly married seeing as if we hadn't actually gone all the way and made the marriage official. I knew we hadn't. Memory or no memory a girl just knows when she's actually taken such a step. Did that even mean anything in this current situation?

"What? Don't be absurd. Of course, you are," Edward said suddenly breaking me away from my thoughts.

I gasped when I looked up and saw him standing right in front of me now, his hands on each of my arms gripping them in a grasp that I once found endearing. But now the grasp only made me feel uncomfortable. There was nothing like trust issues to change the way you think and feel about someone.

"Something inside me tells me that I'm not. Not to mention that technically it's not even a real marriage because we never...well, we never...you know..." I trailed off, slightly embarrassed to say it out loud.

"What are you trying to get at Bella?" Edward asked, crinkling his eyebrows at me.

Blushing profusely, not because of him but because of the current subject, I looked down at my hands again and said, "You know what I am trying to get at. Do not make me have to say it."

"You don't remember, Bella..." Edward started but then paused.

My head shot up at that remark. "Remember what?" I questioned curiously.

"Our honeymoon."

"You know I do not remember it, Edward."

"Such a shame. It was real nice," Edward said with a suggestive smile playing on his lips.

I knew what he was trying to get at and it made me feel disgusted. It was one thing to talk about it. But to use my amnesia against me to lie, that was another thing entirely and I didn't like it one bit.

"I call BS, Edward!" I exclaimed. "I know we never consummated the marriage! So stop trying to use my amnesia against me by saying that we did and that I just don't remember it!"

"But you don't remember anything after the newborn battle, love. Of course, you would not remember it. I can understand that," he said, continuing on with his lie even after I told him to stop it.

Without even realizing what I was saying at first, I admitted through clenched teeth, "I do not feel any different down there!"

Edward looked both slightly shocked and confused. "What?"

Still going through my shocking blunt phase, I hissed, "I would know if I wasn't a virgin anymore! And I don't feel any different down there, so I know that I still am one. So stop freaking lying for whatever sick, sadistic reasoning you have for doing so. Nothing you say is going to make me come back to you anytime soon!" After a moment, I added under my breath, knowing he still heard me, "If I even ever do come back to you."

"Bella, love, you have no idea what you're talking about. You are not thinking like yourself right now. We should get going now."

I wiggled my arms out of his grip then and stepped back as I shook my head. "No," I told him sternly. "All I really know at this point is that I am here to stay for a while."

"You can't stay here. It's not safe," Edward protested vigorously.

I rolled my eyes at his persistence and kept my stern voice as I informed him, "I'm not leaving and you're not staying."

"Bella, I..." Edward started to protest more.

I cut him off once again and put my foot down, so to speak, and insisted, "No, Edward! Don't you dare even start with me. Please, just don't."

"But Bella. You need to leave with me now. It's for the best. You shouldn't be here. You should have never come back here."

"Why are you so focused on getting me to leave Forks?" I asked him suddenly after pondering the thought for a short period of time. "Are you trying to keep something from me?"

"No, of course not," Edward spoke quickly jumping on the defensive, shaking his head to match his answer to my question.

"I don't believe you," I told him honestly.

"Bella, you know I'd never lie to you."

"Oh, really? Alright then. In that case, answer me this without thinking about it first...what really happened to put me in a coma for two years?"

Edward hesitated for a moment, proving what I had already known all along, before he answered, "We told you, you were in a very bad car accident."

"For some reason, I can't bring myself to believe that."

"Bella..."

"NO!" I exclaimed louder than I originally intended to. "I don't know what you're trying to accomplish here, but it is not going to work. I am not leaving Forks with you! I am staying here! And I'm not leaving or making any other plans to do anything else until I find out the truth. One way or another I will put all of the missing pieces together again. I will find out the truth about what happened to me."

"Bella, please," Edward said, pleading with me.

I shook my head and stood my ground. "I've made up my mind and I'm sticking with it."

Edward tried again and I was so sure that he was very close to kneeling on the ground and begging me, but he stayed standing. "Please, Bella. Just leave with me. We can go back to Alaska and we can talk about you turning and being one of us like you want so badly."

"I use to want that!" I spat at him. "But I don't know what I want anymore. Although, at this point, what I do know is that I don't want that anymore; that I'm sure of."

"You are not yourself at the moment, love. Let's just go back to Alaska and we can sort this all out."

He just would not give up on this, would he?

Now I was extremely frustrated and agitated with his never ending, never understanding self.

"For goodness sake, Edward! Have I been talking to a brick wall for the past few minutes?!" I asked angrily, realizing what I had just said after a moment and then giggling. "No pun intended." Then just like that I returned to serious in a blink. " I need some time. Just go back home to your family. I'll call you when I've figured things out."

"If you won't come back with me, then we are going to move back here," Edward said suddenly, causing what control I had left to snap.

My eyes widened and I lost it. "NO! NO! NO! NO!"

"Bella, calm down. We're going to do anything to keep you safe, you know that," Edward said, reaching out for me again.

I stepped back quickly not wanting him anywhere near me right now.

"No, you're doing this because you're extremely obsessive and because you don't want me to find out the truth because it's something you're afraid of. You're lying to me about what happened. I know you are."

"I promise I am not lying to you, Bella," Edward said in an assuring tone that was much too difficult to believe.

I shook my head frantically. "I don't believe you. And I do not want you here. Or anywhere near me. Go away!"

"You don't mean that."

"Yes, I do mean it." I paused for a moment, then continued with, "Something in me is screaming not to trust a single word you say, and for once I'm choosing to listen to my intuition."

"Bella, you are making the wrong choice here."

My blood began to boil. There he went again trying to control me, trying to make me do, say, and believe what he wanted me to. What an ass.

"Don't freaking tell me what choices I make are wrong and which are right. I am 20 years old for crying out loud. I am not a naïve teenager anymore! I can make my freaking own decisions!" I seethed, clenching my fists almost painfully at my sides.

"Bella, this isn't you."

"No, this is me. This is the independent me who doesn't need a man to do everything for her! This is the confused me who wants answers and won't let anything stop her from getting them! This is the take control me who is going to finally stop doing things because others, namely you, want me to. I'm going to start doing me from now on. I am going to be Bella's Bella." I laid down everything right then and there, leaving nothing out. "This is me, Edward. Take it or leave it. Better yet deal with it and still leave!"

"Bella..."

I let out a frustrated sigh and felt like turning and banging my head against the front door. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before I spoke, "Are we really gonna go through this again? I told you..."

I was shocked when I was cut off by a familiar, but surprising voice, "Have you not gotten the memo by now, leech? She does not want you here at all."

Both Edward and I turned our heads in the direction that the voice came from.

Shocked at actually seeing her actually walking out of the woods and towards us, I gasped, "Leah?"

Leah ignored me and instead glared at Edward. "Go away, leech. It's obvious that you're not wanted here."

Edward growled. "I do not answer to you, mutt."

"No, you don't. Thank god. But obviously you can't get it through your head that Bella doesn't want you here. It's only fair that someone steps in and tries to help get the point across faster." Leah all but hissed at him then.

Edward turned back to me. "Bella, love, please tell her to leave. This is a conversation between just us. She. Needs. To. Leave," Edward said, emphasizing each word of the last sentence between clenched teeth.

I shook my head. "Even if I wanted to, I can not make her do anything. And no she doesn't need to leave. You. Need. To. Leave. Right. Now. Edward." I mimicked his own emphasis through clenched teeth as I spoke the last part.

"Bella, please do not do this to me, to us."

And that was my true line drawing point. I had truly had enough and I lost it completely and yelled at him at the top of my lungs, "GO AWAY, EDWARD! JUST TAKE THE HINT ALREADY!"

Edward, shocked by my second and worst outbreak of the day, finally gave in. "Alright, fine. I'll go. But this isn't over. You're my wife and I will be back for you," he half said and half threatened me.

With that he turned and walked away, got into his car, and drove off.

Once Edward's car was out of sight, I turned to Leah.

"Thank you for showing up," I said sincerely.

Leah shrugged her shoulders. "Not a problem."

"Why are you here, Leah?" I asked, taking a seat on the top porch step.

"What is wrong with me being here?" she asked, making her way over and sitting down next to me.

I shrugged my shoulder. "Nothing really. It's just that you're suppose to hate me."

Leah raised an eyebrow. "Am I now?"

"Well you use to."

"Yeah I did sort of back then. It wasn't as much hate as me not being happy with you when you were making stupid choices," she admitted, clearing the air between us.

"And I'm not now?" I asked a bit shocked by her admittance.

Leah shook her head. "No, you told the lee...Edward to leave. Back then you made stupid choices by letting him stay. But this time you made him leave. You've grown up over the past two years," she said with a small and brief smile.

I frowned at the last part and looked down at my feet.

"Oh, sorry. I forgot," Leah spoke suddenly.

I was suddenly on high alert as my head shot up and I looked at her curiously. "Forgot what?"

"Um, well...Jacob called the pack together last night and told us all to go easy on you because of what you told him," she answered and then added as an afterthought, "You know, about the accident and all and you not having any recollection of anything after the newborn battle."

I pondered what she said for a moment before standing up quickly. "Oh, so wait...you being here and being nice to me is just because Jacob said to go easy on me?!" I shook my head in disbelief and turned to walk back into the house. "I can't believe this!" I exclaimed, putting my key in the door and unlocking it.

Just before I could push the door open, Leah grabbed my arm and stopped me. "No, wait...that did not come out right."

"How was it suppose to come out?" I asked, turning back to face her and placing my hands on my hips.

"I'm not being nice because he said to go easy on you," she told me.

"Well then why are you being nice to me?" I asked cluelessly.

Leah sighed. "I over heard most of your conversation with the lee...Edward."

"Don't force yourself to say his name on my account," I said, noticing the look on her face as she continuously had to correct herself when she started to say leech.

"Really?" She looked surprised.

I shrugged and sighed. "It is what he is, is it not? No need to watch what you say."

"But I thought you..."

I cut her off. "No, it's fine. It's who you are. You were born to despise people like Edward and the Cullen's. It's just your nature. No need to try and go against it just for me."

"Umm...okay," Leah said, not knowing exactly how else to respond.

"Not to mention that to be honest, I just..." I stopped myself before I could admit anything else.

Maybe now, and to Leah, wasn't the best way to let what I was thinking out. I still wasn't so sure what to think about Leah's different than usual attitude towards me.

"Just what?" Leah wondered.

"It's hard to explain," I said with a sigh looking anywhere but at her.

"I'm sure it's not as hard to explain as you think it is."

Maybe she did have somewhat of a point there. Alright well, here goes nothing. Let the confessions begin.

"Well, it's just that..." I ended up trailing off again because I was not sure how to go about what I was about to confess to Leah of all people.

Leah waited patiently and didn't push me to say what I was trying to say.

"It's just that...I don't see him like I used to," I finally managed to admit with some difficulty.

"What do you mean?" she questioned, crinkling her eyes at me.

"I mean that I just don't feel like I love him like I used to. It's as if a big part of me...a big part of me just doesn't feel the same with or about him anymore. I feel like maybe the "two year" coma was a wake up call. Before the coma I was head over heels for Edward, nothing and nobody could ever change that. But then when I woke up from the coma...that feeling just was not there anymore. There was this void instead; a void that nothing could fix or fill. It was like I was suffocating and the more he was around me, the worse the suffocating feeling would become," I explained, laying everything that I was feeling on the line.

"Do you know what brought the suffocating feeling on?"

I nodded my head and sighed sadly. "Yeah, Edward would not give me my personal space. When I first woke up he was there. And then every moment afterwards, he was there. It was like he was a Remora fish or something." I couldn't help but feel stupid about the last part, only me would find a silly simile to use.

"A Remora fish?" Leah asked, looking like she was holding back a laugh.

"You know, the remora? The fish that stays right by sharks. It was a bad simile, but I couldn't think of anything else."

"Oh, right," she said in a tone that sounded fake. "Only you could think up such a smile."

"That is exactly what I was thinking, too."

We both laughed at that.

Once we were finished laughing at my randomness, I continued. "Anyways, he was attached at my hip pretty much. He'd never let me out of his sight..."

Leah cut me off and pointed out, "He never did that back then either."

"Yeah, I know." I sighed.

I hated looking back and realizing how co-dependent I had been on him for so long. What was wrong with me back then? Compared to the person I was before I even moved to Forks...that independent version of me would've gladly beat some sense into the other co-dependent version of me if they could have somehow crossed paths.

"But this time it was so much worse," I informed her. "It was so bad that I literally had to beg him to leave me alone just to use the bathroom."

"Seriously?" Leah asked, not even trying to hide the disgusted look on her face.

I nodded my head. "It was weird and it made me extremely uncomfortable. It was almost as if he was afraid I'd leave the first chance I got or something. And that is the absolute last thing he wanted."

"You did leave the first chance you got, though, right?"

"Yeah, I did. But it was his constant presence everywhere I was that pushed me to run away the most."

"So you finally saw him in his over obsessive light?" Leah asked, a small smirk playing on her lips.

"I...yeah, that pretty much sums it up."

"How did you get away?" Leah asked me, the dreaded question I was hoping wouldn't be asked.

Cue more embarrassment on my part now.

"I climbed out of the bathroom window," I answered, blushing a shade of red.

Leah shook her head as she laughed.

"What do you find so funny about that?" I questioned, looking at her.

"Clumsy Bella snuck out the window and didn't get caught right then and there." She laughed louder. "Good job."

I shrugged my shoulders. "It was the luck of the Irish, I guess."

Another bad joke. It would have made much more sense if I was Irish.

Leah chuckled. "Yeah, okay."

"But yeah, I snuck out and something told me to come here. So I did," I said, continuing the conversation.

"How'd you get here from Alaska if you ran away? You obviously needed money, right?"

I looked away then with a slightly guilty look on my face.

"Bella..."

"IkindofstoleEdward'swallet," I answered all at once as fast as I could.

Leah understood it, I could tell when she cracked up again. "You stole the leeches wallet?! So you are a felon as well now?!"

"I needed enough money to get here. His wallet was out in the open and there was more than enough money to get me here in it so I took it when he wasn't looking and then I pretended I was going to go shower. I went to the bathroom, turned the shower on, and then I snuck out the window," I told her everything; the weight of my guilty conscience was slightly lifted upon admitting what I did to someone.

"Oh, Bella. I never knew you had it in you." She laughed, looking at me with a look of pride.

I shrugged and laughed, too. "What can I say? I am full of surprises these days."

Leah nodded in agreement. "It sure seems so."

"Alright well, I should go shower now. I am already late as it is, so what's a few more minutes late," I told her moments later when I remembered I was suppose to be meeting Jacob around noon; I was sure it was already past noon.

"Why are you going to go shower? You just said you're late for something?"

"Yeah, I am hanging out with Jacob today. And I'm going to shower before I go there because I just know that I most likely smell like vampire right now."

Leah sniffed the air close to me and then her nose scrunched up. She backed up immediately, confirming what I already knew. "Yeah, you do."

"Exactly. I do not want to worry Jake. So don't tell him Edward's here or what he said," I said, giving her a pleading look.

"I won't," she replied, giving me a reassuring look.

"Swear it. Sing 80's tunes or something in your head when you're phased at the same time," I told her, wanting to make absolute sure Jacob wouldn't find out before I was ready for him to.

"You know he'll get suspicious if I suddenly start singing 80's or 90's music in my head," she told me, cocking an eyebrow as if to ask, "so how do you suppose I deal with that?"

"Umm, well, it is worth a shot," I said completely clueless as to what to really say. "Please just try. I want to be the one to tell him if need be."

"Why not now?" Leah asked, giving me a slight push.

"Because..." I started and stopped because I honestly didn't have an answer except just because.

"Because why? You heard Edward...he will be back for you eventually. It sounds like a threat if you ask me."

"Yeah, but when it comes to me Edward is usually mostly talk. It's just his over protectiveness coming out. I don't want to worry Jacob if there's nothing to truly worry about. Besides..." I stopped myself before I could go any further; I had told her a lot already, but there were still some things that were best kept to myself.

"Besides what?" she asked not letting it go like a big part of me had hoped she would.

I shook my head and shrugged my shoulders. "Nevermind. It's nothing," I lied.

"You say it's nothing, but the expression on your face says something different." Leah called me out on my lie.

Why was I not surprised by that? Alright, fine. I already told her pretty much everything else, so I might as well tell her this, too.

I sighed and admitted, "I just don't want to hurt him again."

"Are you planning on hurting him again?"

I shook my head quickly. "Of course not. No! Not on purpose anyways, but..." And here's where my biggest fear came into play.

Leah stayed silent, waiting for me to continue on my own accord.

I made eye contact with her and asked her point blank, "What if whenever I do get my memory back, if I get it back...what if it reveals something that is not good? What if something happened that will cause me to hurt him all over again? I don't want to do that to him again. I can't do that to him again."

"Is that all, or is there more?" Leah asked after searching my eyes for something else and apparently finding what she was looking for.

How in the world could she see through me like that? There was something else bothering me. But how did she know? I wasn't that easy to read usually. Or did I just have my guard down at the moment?

"Yeah, there's more."

"And what is it?"

"I don't get why Jacob is acting like everything is okay. He's putting himself in a position where he could possibly get hurt again, and yet he's acting like it doesn't bother him for some reason. All he said to me was that we'll deal with it when the time comes."

"You know he loves you, Bella, and that will never change."

"I know."

"Love makes you do crazy things at times. He loves you so much that he's willing to put himself in that position as many times as he has to. And knowing him, each time it's in hopes that you'll realize that you love him back just as much as he loves you."

I gasped at the last part she said.

"Just talk to him. Make him tell you the truth. What I said is just what I think. I'm not him, so I don't know for sure how he thinks. Therefore, you need to ask him and find out. Otherwise, it's going to eat you up inside and it'll turn you bitter. Trust me...that part...I'm very familiar with."

I opened my mouth to say something, but stopped myself. I instead simply smiled briefly at her. "Thank you."

Leah nodded her head as she stood up. "Of course. Well, I should go and leave you to shower. We don't want you to leave Jacob waiting too much longer. He's probably wondering where you are and contemplating coming to check up on you." She said the last part with a smirk on her face.

"Thanks you again, Leah."

"Just remember what I said," she replied and then she turned away from me and headed into the woods.

Once she was out of sight, I stood up and went inside to shower real quick before I went to see Jacob.

Review, please? Let me know what you thought of this chapter! The new chapter will hopefully be up in the next week or so.

Real quickly, I just want to ask what everyone thinks of my Bella? I feel like she's a bit OOC, but at the same time in my mind I think Bella would've been a lot more like this if she wasn't so blinded by Edward and everything he stood for. Not to mention, I personally adore Bella with a backbone. Let me know if I'm the only one who thinks this way. I'd really appreciate it.

Next chapter; Some Jacob and Bella bonding time. Also, Bella's nightmares begin and the pieces of the truth slowly start to reveal themselves.