Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Couples Therapy

Session One

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Bella's Point of View.

"When did things start to change for the two of you do you think?" Karen asked me.

"I-I-don't really know," I answered honestly. "I mean I know that things change in life, probably more so at our age than at any other age. I just didn't think that it would all change so...fast. I thought that we were happy, that we were good at being married." I was about to say more when a quiet voice beat me to it.

"We are good at being married," Edward said looking at me.

"I never thought that things could get so bad between us," I said sadly, ignoring Edwards comment. How could he honestly say that? "I know that no marriage is perfect, that all couples fight. I just never thought I would ever believe us to be bad for each other."

"Why do you think that you're bad for each other?" Karen asked me.

"We're certainly not making each other happy anymore," I told her. "It's like we're strangers."

"Do you feel you spend enough time together?" Karen questioned.

I snorted. "We don't spend any time together."

"Demanding career's?" Karen asked.

I looked over at Edward expectantly and immediately noticed him become agitated.

"I'm studying to become an architect," Edward finally spoke. "It takes up a lot of my time."

"It takes up all your time," I corrected.

He glared at me, as I began telling Karen about one of the many arguments we had over his time at the office.

Flashback

As soon as we left college, Edward threw himself into the internship that he was given by a prestigious architect company. I was so proud of him, he had worked so hard for the opportunity and I couldn't be happier for him. I knew that it meant more hard work and long hours, which at the time I thought we would be able to handle, only I didn't realise just how bad it was beginning to affect us.

The first few weeks had been fine. I thought the long hours were purely down to him being the new guy and wanting to impress the guys at the top, which was completely understandable. I also knew that he would be tired all the time and that we would rarely get time together for at least a little while. But, when what I thought would be days of long hours became weeks, and then weeks became months, I noticed a strain on our marriage.

I even tried to talk to him about it. It was really late one night when I decided to bring up the problem, not being able to ignore it any longer, no matter how tired he was. I was in bed. Alone. Again. It was 11.40pm when I heard him come through the front door, and climb the stairs to our bedroom. It sounded as if he was deliberately trying to be quiet, probably not wanting to disturb me if I was asleep, which I usually was when he got home these days.

When he entered the bedroom, he was clearly surprised to see that I was still wide awake and sitting up in bed. "Hey," he yawned, before coming over to kiss me. His lips had barely touched mine when he pulled back. "What are you still doing up so late?"

"Waiting for you."

Edward started tugging at his tie. "What's wrong?"

"This sounds like a really stupid thing for a wife to have to say to her husband," I said shaking my head. "But, I miss you."

Edward stopped loosening his tie and came to sit on the bed next to me. "Bella, this isn't easy on me either."

"Really?" I asked him sceptically. "Because it doesn't seem to be affecting you as much as it's affecting me."

Edward frowned, my comment obviously hurting him. "How can you say that to me? You know it crucifies me whenever we're apart."

I looked down unconvinced. "You must just be handling the situation better than me."

"What situation?" he asked as if it was no big deal.

"Us being apart all the time."

Edward sighed. "I know it's hard, Bella. But you must know that all this, the long hours, the time apart...I'm doing it for us. It will all be worth it in the end, you'll see."

"You really believe that?"

He cupped my cheek and gazed lovingly in my eyes. "Do you really think I'd be sacrificing time with you for anything else?"

I didn't know what to think. So, I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and believe that things could only get better for us. But when weeks later things remained the same, worsened even, I had to face up to the terrifying truth. Edward and I were beginning to slowly grow apart.

Present

I looked over at Edward and held up my hand, using my fingers to help accentuate the point I wanted to make. "You wake up and sometimes eat. You go to work all day and come home late. You sleep, and the next day when the alarm goes off, the whole thing repeats itself! I can't remember the last time we fell asleep, or woke up together."

"Bella," Edward sighed. "I told you that I was doing it for--"

"Edward, please!" I interrupted him flatly. "Stop with the monumental bullshit! You're not doing this for us; you're doing it for you! I have my own career remember?"

"What is it that you do?" Karen asked, no doubt trying to lighten the situation.

I looked down and started playing with my nails. "I'm a freelance writer."

"Would I have read any of your work?" Karen smiled at me.

"I don't think so," I said quietly. "My only job is to fill in for real writers when they get the flu or something."

"She's being modest," a flat voice from my side said. "Her work is great."

I snorted and shook my head. "How would you know? Like you ever take any interest in what I do."

Edward threw up his hands in defeat. "And she has to wonder why I choose never want to come home at night!"

I stared at him in shock. Had he really just admitted to staying away from home on purpose? "What?"

"Forget it," he muttered, clearly wishing he had kept his mouth shut.

My mouth bobbed up down. "Y-y-you didn't always have to be at work so late?"

Edward closed his eyes for a moment. "No."

My heart started to beat so fast I thought it would literally come out of my chest. He purposely stayed away...because of me. My breathing was beginning to increase rapidly, and all of a sudden I felt claustrophobic.

"Bella?" Karen looked at me with concern. "Are you alright?"

I shook my head signalling 'no', then turned to Edward and stared at him like I'd never seen him before. The bastard even had the cheek to look at me with concern in his eyes. Only now did I realise that this was the first time in months, where he looked like he actually cared about how I was currently feeling. Too bad it came at the same time as his awful admission. "There isn't a word in our vocabulary that could describe how wrong this is."

"How wrong what is?" Edward croaked.

"This," I gestured between the two of us. I grabbed my bag, stood up slowly and headed for the door, all the while feeling his eyes watching my every move. When I reached the door I stopped and turned to Karen. "I'm really sorry. I just can't do this today."

I was relieved when she smiled and nodded her head in understanding. "Whenever you're ready, Bella. Remember what I told you, it's not going to be easy."

I was about to leave when Edward stood up and approached me. "We came together in the car. Please, let me you take you home," he pleaded gently.

I couldn't meet his eyes. I had to get away from him before my heart betrayed my head. "I can't. I can't...be near you right now. I'd rather be alone." He looked down and nodded slowly. "Besides, I've gotten quite use to it."

He looked up sharply and finally caught my eyes; my comment had had the desired affect and hit him where it hurt. He didn't say anything; there was really nothing he could say. I was alone, and it had been so long since I had felt wanted that being alone had suddenly become normal for me.

I left the room, closing the door on Edward, and then walked out of the building into the fresh air. I started walking down the street aimlessly when I had a thought. I wonder what Jake's up to today. I hadn't seen my friend in a while. It was Saturday so maybe he wanted to hang out.

With that in mind I made my way to his house.

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Thanks to: vampiregurl, flock6 and gilmoregeek13, for giving me my first Twilight fic reviews. Please continue to enjoy it.