I don't own any of it.

JAR:

"Fine. I will earn your forgiveness one way or another," he said as he walked off.

I slumped against my truck as soon as he was out of sight and began to cry.

Bella's Point of View

I was now at home curled into a ball on my bed. Today had been possibly the worst day of my life besides the day Edward left. I replayed the whole day through my head.

I had gone back to class like I said I would. It was the hardest thing to walk into that room knowing that the one I loved was right next to me, but even though I loved him, I couldn't forgive him. I was so frustrated to the point of nausea that I couldn't forgive him.

He had been in all of my classes throughout the rest of the day. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised. Edward had those kinds of 'powers' on people. However, every time I walked into my next class and saw him sitting next to where I sat, I couldn't help but feel completely dumbstruck.

I successfully avoided him at lunch though. I hid in the girl's bathroom the whole time. Even with his 'powers', there was no way he would get into the girl's bathroom.

Angela somehow found me. She stayed with me the whole lunch period and listened to me explain what was going on. She didn't even get mad like I thought she was when I told her I had pulled my hair yesterday. She just hugged me and kept telling me it was going to be okay.

But then she did the unexpected. She pulled out a piece of paper and a pen.

"Ben, me and…Edward," she began, "have come up with a plan to help you Bella. We want you to stop pulling your hair and get yourself healthy again. We love you so much, and none of us can stand to see you hurting like this. So we talked it over and came up with this."

She handed me the piece of paper and I froze. "Angela…"

"Bella, please listen to me. You can't keep doing this to yourself. You need to sign this. Not for Ben, or me, or even Edward. You need to sign this for yourself."

I looked at the paper again. It said…

I, Isabella Marie Swan, will not pull my hair ever again. If life gets to be too hard and I have the urge to pull, I will do anything in my power to contact Ben, Angela, or Edward for help.

Below that was a line where I was supposed to sign my name.

"This is stupid Angela," I said quietly, still looking at the paper.

"I know it isn't a legally binding contract, but this type of intervention has been proven to help others Bella. Ben, Edward, and I feel this will help you too. Please sign it Bella. We love you, and we want to see you happy again!"

She gave the pen to me and watched as I signed the paper shakily. I gave her the paper, and she smiled at me.

"Thank you Bella," she said softly.

Lunch had ended then, and I was left to deal with Edward for the rest of the day. Knowing that he wanted to help me really helped me come one step closer to forgiving him though.

After school, I had asked him if he would come talk to me. He eagerly accepted and walked with me to a picnic table hidden from everyone's view. We sat across from eachother and I began.

"So you're working with Angela and Ben now?" I asked quietly.

He nodded. "Anything to help you. Just out of curiosity…"

"Yes Edward, I signed the contract," I said interrupting him.

He smiled. "You don't know how happy that makes me."

Even though I was hurting at that moment, I felt myself smile slightly. Then I became serious again. "Edward, I want you to know that I still love you. I love you so much that it is killing me that I can't forgive you!" I looked down and continued. "But the fact of the matter is, I can't forgive you. Not yet. Because Edward, you hurt me so badly. I can't even describe to you how much you hurt me."

"Bella…"

"Please just listen," I whispered still looking down. "I know your reasons for leaving. You left because you wanted to protect me from what you and your family is. You left because you wanted me to have a happier, healthier life. Those are all noble reasons, but even though they are noble, you still hurt me. How could you ever think for one second that I would have a happy life without you? How could you ever think I would be safer without you? Edward, you kept me alive by being with me. You know how accident prone I am."

I looked up to see him staring at me with a profound look in his eyes.

"But I wasn't with you so you could keep me alive. I was with you because I love you. You saving my life just made it all the better. But I seriously can't understand how you could ever think I would be happier without you. You obviously don't know me at all." I looked him in the eyes to communicate how serious I was. "I was not happy without you Edward," I said matter-of-factly. "I am not even happy now that you are back because we aren't together. But I can't be with you when I can't forgive you or trust you."

"Bella," Edward began. "I understand that you can't forgive me yet. I hurt you deeply. I will never forgive myself. Not even if we get back together." He looked down and continued. "It's just that my reasons seemed good at the time. So I left. And now that I look back on it, I was so stupid!"

"I did know you Bella. I do know you. I knew you wouldn't be happy when I left. I knew you wouldn't be safe without me. But I pushed those thoughts away when I left. I lied to you, and I lied to myself. I told you I didn't love you, and that was a complete lie. I told myself you would be better off, and that was a lie too."

He looked up and looked me in the eyes. "Isabella, I can't tell you how sorry I am right now. I am so incredibly sorry."

I looked away at my hands in my lap. "Thank you Edward. I needed to hear that," I whispered.

"I love you Bella, and I will be waiting for the day when you are ready to forgive me. As for now, I hope we can still be friends."

I nodded my head even though I didn't know if that would work.

"And…I know this is probably not the best time, but…everyone wants to see you again. I told them all to stay away from you at school today, but I don't know how long I can hold them off anymore. Alice and Emmett especially."

I sighed looking up. "Alright. I will see them, but not at your house. I can't go back there yet."

He nodded. "I understand."

"And maybe only just Alice and Emmett at first. I don't think I can handle all the…commotion…just yet. I need to come back slowly."

"That sounds reasonable. They will be so excited Bella. When can they come see you and where?"

"I am sure Alice has already seen this and dragged Emmett to my house."

Edward chuckled. "I'm sure she has. Shall we?" He stood up and gestured toward the parking lot.

I stood and walked by his side to my truck. He opened my door for me and I got in. He got into his Volvo and followed me to my house where Alice and Emmett were waiting on the front porch, Alice bouncing in place.

Slowly, I got out of my truck and walked up to Alice who immediately embraced me in a hug.

"Oh Bella! I have missed you so much! We have so much to catch up on! We should go shopping together and…"

"Oh Alice," I moaned. "No shopping. Not yet."

She frowned. "Don't you love me?"

"Alice, of course I love you. But no shopping right now."

She pouted but nodded.

Emmett then swept me up into a huge bear hug. He lifted me up off my feet and spun me around before putting me safely on the ground again.

"BELLA!" he yelled.

I laughed. It felt foreign to me, but I liked it. "EMMETT!" I yelled.

He leaned into me and whispered in my ear, "I've got Edward's punishment all prepared. Don't even worry about it."

Edward growled behind me. I just laughed.

"You're the same overprotective big brother," I said.

"Well of course. If I wasn't, who would beat up all those nasty people who hurt you?" He looked over my head and winked at Edward before laughing.

Edward only growled. "Alright. Enough jokes at my expense. Let's get inside," he said.

Alice, Emmett, and I had talked for two hours catching up on everything. We talked about my disorder, which made me cry. But we also talked about all the happy times ahead which lightened the mood. The whole time we talked though, Edward just sat across from me and stared at me. He seemed to be trying to communicate how much he loved me.

All of this wasn't why I was curled into a ball on my bed right now though. That part came later.

Alice and Emmett had left Edward and me alone to talk. I was in the kitchen cooking dinner for Charlie and me when it happened.

After Edward's apology and seeing Alice and Emmett again, I decided it was time to forgive Edward. He was sincere in his apology, and I felt like it would be unnecessary to prolong the hurt.

So I turned around and smiled slightly. "Edward, I want you to know that I forgive you."

He had looked at me in complete shock before engulfing me in a huge hug. He began kissing every inch of me from the shoulders up. "I love you so much Bella," he said in between kisses.

I stood stock still as he continued to kiss me. Eventually, he read my body English and stopped. He held my shoulders and looked me in the eyes.

"What's wrong Bella?" he asked.

"I didn't expect that," I gasped.

He smiled. But when he saw me frown, he became solemn.

"What is it Bella?" he asked nervously.

"I…" I looked down and tried to get out of his grip, but it was no use. I was stuck.

"Bella, you can tell me anything," Edward assured.

I sighed and gave in knowing it was no use to fight. "I forgive you Edward. But I can't…be with you…anymore," I said quietly. "I can't…trust…you."

His hands dropped from my shoulders. "What?"

"I can't be with you anymore," I whispered.

"Because you don't trust me?" he clarified.

"Yes."

He put his hands to his head and turned around. "Bella…I thought…I thought that once you forgave me, everything would be better. I though we could be together again." His voice began to rise.

"Edward, I forgive you. I still want to be your friend. But I can't be anymore then that. You broke my trust with you," I said as tears began to fill my eyes.

"Bella," Edward said turning around. I could tell he was having a hard time staying calm. "What do I have to do to get you to trust me again?" he asked.

I looked down. "I don't know," I whispered.

"Okay…well why don't you trust me?"

I looked up in shock. "Are you serious?" I asked.

"Yes Bella. I am completely serious!" His voice continued to rise.

"You left me Edward! How do I know you won't leave me again when things get hard? How do I know that the next time Jasper takes a snap at me, you won't lie to yourself and leave again? I couldn't take that again Edward. I would rather die! I would die!"

"Bella, I will never leave you again," he said. "I love you too much to do that again."

"But how can I trust that right now? You only just came back yesterday Edward. I need some time to gain trust again."

"Bella…"

"Edward," I pleaded. "Please understand me. I want to be your friend. I want to hang out with you and all that. But I can't be anymore than a friend to you right now. Not until I trust you again. Not until I know without a shadow of a doubt that you won't leave me again."

"I told you I wouldn't Bella," he said quietly. He was breaking down before my eyes.

"Edward, I forgive you. I forgive you for leaving me. And after only one day too! But I can't trust you again that quickly. That takes more time."

He sighed and turned around. "Bella, I can't just be your friend forever when I want to have so much more with you. I can't do that," he whispered.

"It won't be forever Edward. Prove to me that you won't leave me. Prove to me that you won't hurt me again."

"How?"

"I don't know." I sighed. "Just prove it to me."

Edward turned his head and looked at me with the saddest look I had ever seen. "I really messed up didn't I?" he asked.

I nodded my head slowly.

He turned around and ran out of the house.

That was why I was curled into a ball now. Would things ever get better? Was I being irrational by not being with Edward again?

It's just…I couldn't trust him. Not yet when things were still so fresh.

I wanted to pull so badly, but the contract kept popping into my mind. I couldn't pull. I couldn't hurt Angela, Ben, and Edward that way.

So I cried myself to sleep that night scrunched into a ball, trying to hold myself together.

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