Disclaimer: Stephenie Myer and associates own all Twilight characters/etc. I just want to play with them for a while and give them something new to do.

Chapter 9

(BPOV)

It all seemed to happen so fast that I could hardly believe it was over; I had finally told Edward the truth about who I was. It wasn't exactly the way I pictured things going. I certainly didn't expect him to find me balling my eyes out behind the school and showing that I wasn't as strong as I pretended to be.

Fucking bitch. Lauren Mallory was responsible for my not so graceful bean spilling. The little whore cornered me outside the bathroom just before the bell for lunch rang. It was like she had planned the cosmos to align for her perfect revenge. As soon as the bell had rung and the halls had filled with students she screamed my full name at the top of her lungs. The entirety of the hallway froze and turned in silence to see what the commotion was. Seeing that she had everyone's attention she repeated my name.

And then it began. The stupid bitch proceeded to question me about my drunken, whore of a mother and berate me with guilty accusations that I was the reason she ripped us out of Forks and left a devastated and depressed Charlie behind to pick up the pieces of a shattered home. I had always known that our leaving had hurt Charlie, but the dark pictures her words painted broke any fight I had in me. She had attacked my biggest weakness and was victorious. Without a word of retaliation I turned on my heel and ran as fast as I could; fighting tears the whole way. She may have won the battle, but I would not give her the satisfaction of seeing me cry.

I made it to the back of the school before the sobs became so violent that I couldn't even stand anymore. I always blamed myself for the hurt that Renee had done to Charlie. If I hadn't been born he would've never had to suffer the loss my mother put him through. If it hadn't been for me Charlie could've been happily married with a couple kids and a full life. This guilt was stupid, maybe, but it was overwhelming none-the-less.

I never heard him approach. Never heard his footsteps, his curses, him throwing his bag to the ground. Nothing.

"Bella?"

Just my name. God only knows how long he'd been standing there; how long he'd been watching me fall apart. When I looked up and saw him there I completely forgot that he didn't know who I was. I forgot that I hadn't even spoken to him since Saturday. I forgot everything but the familiar comfort and safety of being in his arms. As we fell to the ground I let myself meld into his warm embrace, and just let my tears run their course. As I started to calm I realized that he must have already heard who I was. Why else would he hold an almost perfect stranger so tenderly? It didn't matter. As long as he was willing I would stay wrapped up with him.

I waited for a quite a while. Waited for the anger. Waited for the hurt. Waited for the guilt. It never came.

"How are you not furious with me?" I finally asked him. I saw the shock. Why is he not throwing me off him? "Should I be furious at you? Right now I'm just worried about you. What happened?" His response stunned me.

"You really don't know?" He looked at me again and I saw only confusion in his eyes. "The only thing I know is that the one of the seemingly strongest people I've ever met has been hiding back here for God knows how long crying her eyes out and I don't know why." I blinked back the tears that began to form at his admission of how strong a person he thought I was. I'm not strong. I never was. I just learned how to fake it. He should be able to see that.

"I'm back here because of Lauren Mallory and her band of puppets. They verbally attacked me with my biggest weakness, my parents, as their weapon. I would explain to you how deeply my family has scarred me, but you know almost as well as I do." I looked at him, waiting for some kind of response I guess. But again I was wrong to expect one. In a few short seconds I realized that he truly was as dense as I thought. He had no idea who I was, nor did he seem to care. Alice had hit the nail on the head when she told me how self-absorbed he'd become. I just didn't want to believe her. How could my sweet sweet Edward be this way? Surely something or someone had intervened to make him this cold shell of the human he once was. I looked at him again, only this time I looked at him with an anger I didn't know myself capable of. I exploded out of his arms and with a fury fueled solely by my deepest love for him, I proceeded to rip him a new one.

"Edward Anthony Cullen! How dare you! How dare you act like this! I'm so ashamed of you! How could you put Carlisle and Esme and Alice through that? If I had known what was going on back here…" I had begun pacing at some point, but at the realization that there was almost no movement coming from him I stopped and looked. The rage I saw in his eyes almost made me want to back up a few steps. Alice had told me of Edward's temper and I was in no mood to see it first hand. I realized that to him I had crossed lines by mentioning his family, since he still didn't know me. Stupid prick. Its his own fault.

"My name is Isabella Marie Swan."

I watched his mouth shut so fast that I heard the click of his teeth. He just stared. "Could you say that again, please?" I glanced down, steeling my resolve to finally let him in. I picked my head up, squared my shoulders and repeated, "My name is Isabella Marie Swan." He looked at me. The pain I saw on his face and twisting in his eyes almost brought me to tears. As he sank to his knees and broke his stare I heard him whispering. I caught the "Alice" and then "dream."

"You're not dreaming, Edward."

"That's what all dream people say."

I walked slowly towards him, not wanting to startle him with any sudden movements. I sank down in front of him, took his face gently in my hands, and lifted his gaze to my own. "I'm here Edward. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere ever again. I've missed you more than words could possibly express, but I'm here now. This is real." He stared, unblinking, for several seconds before he started shaking his head again. He didn't believe me. I was clueless as to how I was going to make him believe. I clenched my hands together to keep me from just tackling him and forcing him to understand.

That's when I felt it. My ring. Edward had given it to me so surely it should be enough proof that he wasn't dreaming. I slid the ring off and grabbed his hand. After prying open his tightly clenched fist I dropped the ring in his palm and closed his hand. I watched as he lifted the hand to his face and opened it. His eyes flashed with so many emotions it was hard to pick one out. I didn't have to though. Soon enough I found out which emotion reigned supreme.

ANGER.

(EPOV)

I jumped up and away from her so fast I probably gave myself whiplash. How fucking dare she. How dare she come back here without a word. How dare she coerce my own sister into keeping her secret so she could play her games. Who did this bitch think she was? "Did you honestly think that I would be so happy to see you I'd forget about all the pain and hurt you caused us? You think that coming back her and playing games is how you make up for not writing or calling or even pretending to miss the closest friends you ever had? Well think the fuck again. Stay the hell away from me. You're nothing more than a distant memory to me Bella." I spit her name out like a vile taste in my mouth. Without looking back I turned on my heel and left her there.

Glancing at my watch I saw that 6th period was about to let out. With the shape of Bella's ring piercing the skin of my palm as my fists clenched ever tighter, I marched to Alice's classroom. She had a lot of explaining to do.