Disclaimer: I do not own these characters just the story itself.
Rating: No lemons today….coming soon

Everything Goes: Chapter 19:

Jake held onto Bella's hand while he called Charlie and informed him about tonight's event. Charlie was in an uproar. Jake tried to assure him that Bella was only being kept overnight for observation but Charlie wouldn't listen to reason. He threatened Jake he was going to come to the hospital and bring his daughter home where he could keep her safe. Eventually he got Charlie to calm down slightly

Jake held onto Bella's hand while he made the call to Charlie. Charlie had been so upset that Jake heard Charlie say words that even made him blush. After he hung up with Charlie he continued to stay by Bella's side. The doctors had assured him that she was going to be fine. They just wanted to keep her overnight for observation. Her head was hit pretty hard and she might suffer from a concussion.

Leah had made an appearance in Bella's room after she checked on her brother.

"Oh my God Jake I swear I never thought anything remotely like this could happen." Leah cried out as she entered the room. Her hands were clutch together as she stared at Bella with her eyes brimming with tears.

"How is Seth?" Jake ask trying to remain calm. He knew that Leah had not intended on any of this to happen but it had been her idea to send Bella on this story. Although no one could have imagine going to a art gallery event could end up so deadly. So he was trying not to blame her personally. After all he could have gone and stayed in the car outside. He had been trying so hard to give her some space that he had put her in the line of fire for the attacker.

"He is okay. His head is harder than even I imagined. He has a few stitches. The son of a bitch hit him pretty hard." Leah replied with a shaky smile.

Jake could tell that Leah was truly upset but she was struggling to look brave about it all. He could see through her act. She was definitely a lot softer than anyone would have guessed. He found for the first time since he met her a side that he actually admired.

"I am sorry about that." Jake answered with a softer tone.

"So when will our girl go home?" Leah scooted closer to Bella has she stared down at Bella's sleeping form.

"Tomorrow. Her dad is on his way. He is pretty pissed. I'm sure he will blame me for this." Jake explained.

"How could he? It was more my fault than yours Jake. I should have know the jerk would possibly follow her. I was stupid. I was so damn stupid." Leah inhaled deeply as she licked her lips nervously.

Jake noted how she fought back the tears that still shined from her dark brown eyes.

"No you weren't. I hate to say this but truthfully Bella was growing weary of being by my side nonstop. So like you I figured he had given up on her and letting her go out was what she needed." Jake hoped he was assuring her enough so she didn't go home later and beat herself up for all of this.

"Well, I want her to stay home a couple of days at least to rest up. Don't let her worry about work. I will send her some stuff to do from home so she won't go completely stir crazy." Leah chuckled knowing how stubborn Bella was.

"Thanks." Jake smiled warmly at her.

Leah slipped out feeling slightly better while Jake wished he could feel less pain in his heart but there was nothing no one could say to him that would ease the guilt he felt about tonight's fiasco.

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Charlie spoke to the police officers while Bella continue to sleep. The doctors had given her a sedative shortly after she arrived. They explained she would no doubt not be able to speak for a few days due to the strangulation. It had bruised her vocal chords.

Charlie warned the police officer if they did not discover something soon he would personally take on this investigation himself. They argued with him it was out of his jurisdiction and he was personally involved with the case. Once again he warned the young man that he was willing to put a boot up his tight little ass if they did not push this case up on the list of high priority. His daughter nearly died tonight because they felt that she was in no real danger. Just some stupid ass guy harassing her nothing more than that. Now he had literally put his hands on his daughter and that warranted the case to be taken seriously.

Jake feared for a moment or two he might have to bail Charlie out when his fierce his temper had grew when the police who came by to question him about the phone conversation acted like he was a possible suspect or in some way connected to the attacker since he located her body. Charlie made it clear they were simpletons if they thought that Jake would dare let anyone harm his daughter. He vouched for Jake's innocence and then reminded them he would give them one week no more before he went straight over their heads. When they left Jake was sure that they were as frighten of Charlie has he had always been.

"Now your going to tell me why the hell you were not with her tonight." Charlie demanded as he leaned up against the closed door and stared coldly at Jake.

Jake gulped hard. When Charlie wrapped his arms around his chest Jake knew he was in some serious trouble with Charlie. He wasn't sure how much he should tell Charlie about his relationship with Bella. He wasn't quite ready or perhaps prepared to tell Charlie that he loved his daughter more than his own life. That he was so scared that that he might push her away that he had foolishly let her walk out of the apartment with out him glued to her side.

Somehow he didn't think that Charlie would give a damn about Jake's personal feelings. In fact he was sure that Charlie would be immensely furious to discover that not only did Jake, the best friend, let Bella leave but her new found boyfriend and recent lover had also let her walk into danger.

"Bella had been in the apartment for over a week every night with me, Charlie. She was going crazy. Leah needed her to do a job. Bella wanted to go. Unfortunately I was not invited to go to this event due to my lack of proper apparel and the fact that Leah had her brother who works for the magazine already planned to escort Bella in Leah's place." Jake chose his words wisely as he tried to be as honest as possible with Charlie.

He had known Charlie long enough to know that Charlie could smell a lie a mile away. So there was no way he was about to even try to attempt to lie or fabricate any portion of his statement.

"So you willingly let her go. By herself." Charlie stated with an accusing tone that made Jake feel far worse than he had already

"You make it sound like I just shoved her out the door and straight into his hands." Jake stood up as his anger began to rise. He did not appreciate the way that Charlie was accusing him. In fact it seem down right wrong of him. So wrong that Jake wanted to hit Charlie for the first time in his life How dare he act like it was only his place to protect Bella. Not to mention that Charlie knew damn well how stubborn his own daughter could be. Why was Charlie acting like he was somehow her personal superman. He was just a man. A simple man. He had no super powers that could have predicted the attackers where abouts or motives. He had no idea who the bastard was. Charlie was no closer to knowing either. So how he could stand there and act as if he just sat back all week and watched Bella walk straight into a trap?

"Don't you think you did?" Charlie snorted.

"Screw you Charlie." Jake's bruised hands curled up by his side.

"Excuse me, boy." Charlie stood up straighter as his chest began to heave heavily.

"I love your daughter Charlie. I love her more than my own life. I would have gladly taken her place. I am doing the best I can under the circumstances." Jake fought to hold back some of the anger that was about to boil over. He knew that Bella would hate it if he and her father had got into a brawl while she was too drugged up to prevent it.

"I know you are Jake. I really do. I'm just frustrated. If she was at home with me, well, I can't say it would not have happened but I could have a little more control over it." Charlie exhaled loudly as he realized that he was really mad at himself and the facts.

Bella no longer lived under his roof. She no longer obeyed his commands. She was a grown woman who had to be free to make her own decisions. He could not help himself when he looked at her he still saw the little girl who discovered there was no Santa Claus and who refused to come down one Christmas morning until she could face the idea. Her presents had sat under the tree until nearly six o'clock that Christmas day. She had been so furious, sadden and most of all felt betrayed by her parents. She could not believe that they had lied to her and most of all it had hurt to think there really wasn't someone out there that was as special as the myth she had grown to love and appreciate.

"I know it sucks Charlie that she is not at home with you. I get that. I know it is hard to let go of her. Trust me when she left all I could do was pace the floors. I was going out of my mind. When I could not take it any longer I called her and luckily I did. It was then that he attacked her. He warned me that he would get her." Jake cried out as he fought back the tears that were starting to burn the back of his eye lids.

"I know you care about her Jake. I get that. You have been her closest friend for as long as I can remember. I just have to know what your intentions for my daughter are now." Charlie cocked an eyebrow as he stared straight into Jake's eyes.

"Excuse me?" Jake frowned.

"You heard me. I know you two are no longer simply friends. I could see it in your eyes the second I walked into this room. I could see it in the way you held onto her. I could hear it in your voice. It's clear as day to me that you more than love my daughter. You're IN love with her." Charlie gulped hard as he let this sink into his head and into his heart.

Sure, he liked Jake. Always had and always would. However knowing that Jake and Bella lived under the same roof and were much more than mere friends made him a feel a tinge of fear for Bella. He knew how deep Bella loved when she truly fell in love. She was a lot like himself in that area. If Bella and Jake did not work for some reason she would not be the same. He wondered where they planned on taking this new found relationship between them. He truly did not like the idea of them sharing a bed before marriage. He knew it was old fashion on his side but hey what father really enjoyed the thought of his daughter laying with a man who might not marry her down the road? None.

"So?" Charlie continued to stare boldly at Jake his eyes never wavered.

"I don't know Charlie. We just found ourselves having these feelings for one another. WE didn't plan on this happening. In fact I have to admit that I never saw us going in this direction but we have. I love her. You're right I am in love with her. I want to spend the rest of my life with her." Jake answered as he sat back down in the chair feeling an abundance of relief spill out of his weary soul.

Charlie knew now. Jake was super glad that his new relationship with Bella was finally exposed by her father. He had been considering for days now how he would tell Charlie that he was in love with his daughter. He also worried how Charlie would feel about him dating his daughter. It was one thing to be her friend but to be her lover, well he knew that was an entirely new area.

"So you two considering marriage?" Charlie coughed nervously.

"Why does everyone jump to that conclusion?" Jake cried out with a outrageous expression.

"I guess it goes back to the fact that you guys have been in each others lives for so long that it just seems reasonable you would take the next step toward marriage. Eventually." Charlie's lips curled up as he finally relaxed and allowed himself to smile for the first time this evening.

"I get that but we are like any other couple. We are discovering us as a couple. I won't lie and say that I can't see myself not marrying her someday." Jake flashed him a crooked smile as the image of her wearing a long white gown carrying a bouquet of white lilies popped into his head. His heart swelled with joy as he savored the image. It was a hell a lot better to dream of a future with her then to consider a life with her dead and gone like he had nearly faced tonight.

"Good. That will work for me. Just know that Jake if you hurt her I will personally kick your ass all over the state." Charlie's smile faded instantly and was replaced with such a cold stern look that made Jake's stomach instantly knot up like a pretzel. He had no doubts that Charlie would indeed do as he promised.

"Fair enough." Jake replied nervously.

"Now I am going to go get us something to drink." Charlie exhaled deep and loud as he strolled out of the room.

Jake leaned over and placed a tender kiss on Bella's cheek as a soft smile slipped onto his face. He knew how pleased she would be to learn that Charlie was aware of their status and that he had accepted it with less ruckus than she had been preparing herself for.

Yeah, he was definitely relieved to be here tonight holding her hand and dreaming of all the possibilities their future held for them. He pushed the nagging fear from the back of his head that warned him until they found the bastard responsible for tonight there was still a slim chance that the future he longed for might not come true.

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Edward had been sitting in the waiting room making several calls hoping to hire someone right away to do a background check on Riley Biers. He was ready to take the bastard down this time. He refused to believe that he was not responsible for tonight. Every fiber in his body screamed that Riley not only harmed Bella but he had harmed the other women back in college.

Riley had been the quiet guy in their house. He had always seem to be watching everyone. He rarely joined in their festivities but was more than willingly to help put the events together. He still wasn't sure how he even got into the fraternity at all. He was not quite like his fellow brothers. However his fraternity had prided themselves on being different.

Edward understood how Jasper had got to the theory that Riley would have been stupid to harm Bella immediately after she left the building where he and Jasper still remained. He would normally agree with Jasper's logic but something kept screaming that maybe that was part of the plan. He would argue that point if they called him out on it and then he would hope they would realize that it sounded stupid even to their own ears.

He could not sit by idly and wait to see if anything else happen to Bella. She might not be his girl any longer but she was still an amazing woman who he respected and cared for.

"Edward?" Charlie stepped up with a soda in one hand and a hot coffee in the other.

"Hi." Edward sat his lap top down as he stood up. He had always been slightly frighten of Bella's dad. He had always made his view of Edward clear. He liked him well enough but he just didn't see much in common with the young man. Edward could not dislike him for that.

"What are you doing here?" Charlie asked curiously as he scanned the crowded waiting room.

"I was at the art gallery tonight. I helped Jake search for Bella." Edward replied.

"Oh. So did you see anything odd tonight?" Edward sat the soda down as he sipped on his coffee and stared intensely at Edward.

"Not exactly. She was with an old acquaintance of mine and Jasper's, the artist." Edward paused as Charlie's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"This guy, Riley Biers, was a possible suspect of one murder and another attempt on another girl that survived the attack. The district attorney could not prove he was the one responsible so he was able to walk away. I just find it odd that Bella happen to meet him at the club the night that Alice was attacked." Edward gulp hard. He was praying that he was not the reason that Riley had hurt his cousin and was now stalking his ex girlfriend. If it had anything to do with his shared past with Riley he wasn't sure if he could live with himself.

"So your gut tells you that he is somehow a possible suspect." Charlie licked his lips as he stared off for a few moments before his eyes lock with Edwards.

"I will have him check out." Charlie stated firmly.

"I just hired an investigator to do a background on him." Edward replied .

"Good. But I am still doing my own." Charlie said.

"Good." Edward agreed.

"So why are you still here?" Charlie noticed that Edward looked like he had been camped out in the waiting room since Jake arrived with Bella.

"I..well…I wanted to make sure she was going to be okay." Edward rubbed the back of his neck as he looked away sheepishly. He could not afford to let Charlie see that he still cared very much for Bella. He was sure that Charlie was more than happy about Jake being Bella's new love interest at the moment.

"She is. Go home. Get some sleep." Charlie ordered as he patted Edward on the shoulder. Leaning down he pick up the soda and return to the room where Jake remained glued to Bella's side.

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"I'm sorry Alice if this bothers you but you should know what happened." Esme spoke gently and very slowly as she began to inform her daughter of the attack that had occurred last night.
The doctors and even Edward hoped that this would be such a shock to her that she might reveal the true identity of her attacker. Alice held an important key to this case. No one could understand how she would protect the bastard who hurt her and was now hurting her best friend. It was not like Alice. Normally Alice was the one who stood up for anyone who was being abused in any fashion. Instead she was protecting the bully in this case.

"Is she okay?" Alice's voice was calm although her eyes were wide with fear.

"Barely. She nearly died." Esme stated in the same tone that the doctor coached her to speak when he finally agreed to this intervention.

"But she is alive." Alice gulped hard as tears brimmed up in her eyes.

"Yes." Esme nodded her head.

"Good." Alice sighed loudly.

"Alice he is still out there. He has already warned Jake that he will kill Bella now. Why do you think he wants to hurt her?" Esme asked.

Alice sat on the soft cream colored sofa with her legs curled up under her. She stared off into space for several minutes before she turn her attention back to her mother.

"Because we are naughty girls. We like to get guys attention. We hurt them with our selfishness." Alice replied in a eerie voice.

"No you don't. You and Bella are good girls. You always have been." Esme looked up at the mirror above Alice's head. She was shocked and deeply disgusted by how Alice viewed herself and Bella. She knew these were not her words. These were the words of her attacker.

"It's true Mom. We went to that club to tease men. We wanted to prove to Embry that we were just pieces of meat to men. He was right. We were very wrong to tease them." Alice's lower lip quivered.

"How did you tease them?" Esme sucked in a deep breathe as she fought to remain calm and focused.

"We dressed up like sluts. If you act and look like them then you will get treated like one." Alice replied in the same tone as before.

"Is that why he hurt you?" Esme reached out hand held her daughters frail hands between hers.

"Yes. He hates us. He says we are not good influences on good girls. We put thoughts in their minds. We deserved to be punished." Alice shook her head as a single tear trickled down her face.

"Do you believe that Alice? Do you honestly believe you are a bad influence?" Esme bit down on the corner of her lip.

"No. Yes. I don't know. I was the one who dressed up Bella that night. Perhaps I was being selfish. I knew that dress would get guys attention. I knew that neither of us were there to find love exactly." Alice gulped hard as a couple more tears slipped out of her eyes.

"Why are you protecting him instead of Bella? Do you not care about her?" Esme caressed her daughter's hand with a comforting smile on her face.

"Of course I care about her. He told me he would kill her if I revealed who he was. I promised not to tell and that is why I am alive." Alice cried out with a deep anguish sob.

"What if he kills Bella? How will you feel then?" Esme asked as she felt her hands trembling. She knew she was pushing Alice with this final question but Edward had insisted that if they did not do something quick that they would all be just as responsible for the death of Bella.

"I won't let him. I will kill him first.' Alice's calm face corrupted into a ugly glare as she jump up abruptly from the couch and walked to the mirror. She stared into it. She saw her own reflection. She looked horrible. She knew that this was what he wanted her to see. Without her makeup and her fancy clothes she was nothing. She was a ordinary girl.

"How can you kill him if your lock up in here?" Esme ask as she stood up staring at her daughter's reflection.

"I don't know." Alice frowned.

"Then help us get him before he gets her. Please Alice we will protect you and her. I swear it." Esme's calming tone broke into a painful cry as she strolled over to the daughter and wrapped her arms around her. Laying her head on her shoulder she held her tightly against her.

"Please Alice. I need you. I need you to help us. I don't want Bella to die." Esme whispered as tears began to leak from her eyes.

"I will tell you this. The man your looking for is….." Alice whispered into Esme's ear.

Edward and the doctor stood on the double sided mirror watching as Alice hopefully revealed the identity of the attacker.

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Embry walked into the apartment expecting to find Quil and Collin fast asleep. Instead all he found was Quil crashed on the futon. It was only ten o'clock in the morning and normally Collin and Quil slept in til noon on their days off. Embry had gone out on a double date with Quil and Misty. He had met Misty's friend, Melissa. She was a nice girl. In fact she was even pretty. The only thing that Embry had found a little off was how quiet she had been during most of the meal.

When they had gone to the movies afterwards she had allowed him to hold her hand but when the foursome split up and Embry offered to take her home he discovered that the quiet little mouse was a vixen in disguise. She had asked if he wanted a soda or some coffee before he headed home. He had agreed that a drink would be nice and had hoped for maybe a few kisses but what he got instead was a full night of some serious kinky sex. The girl had a fetish for handcuffs and cool whip.

At one point during their sexual encounter he feared she might have been more than he could handle. The girl had some serious stamina for such a tiny little mousy thing. Then he remembered that Collin had always said it was the quiet ones you had to watch your back with.

Collin always knew so much about girls. Although Embry had not seen him with many of them he knew there were many nights that Collin did not come home until the wee hours of the morning. He assumed that Collin was with one of his lady friends. The women always took a hankering for him. He was a attractive enough guy and had some decent size biceps.

Collin was always in first place when he hung out with Embry and Quil but when Jake was around the ladies went for him first and Collin second. Embry suspected that this secretly bothered Collin although he had never spoke of it out loud.

Collin had been quite the man when he went to college for a year. He had been one of the lucky few to get a scholarship to attend the state university. He had been a damn good baseball player. His luck ran out though when he was sliding into home plate and smashed his knee to hell. He had several operations performed on it but the doctors all said the same thing. His knee would never survive in the big leagues. He lost his scholarship shortly after that. Collin had hated that he had lost his one chance at the pros as well as obtaining a college degree.

He was the one who often griped about having to be a worthless mechanic for the rest of his life. Jake would always get aggravated with him for having a pity party that no one else wanted to be invited to. Jake would remind him that he had more potential than he knew. Collin would laugh it off but Embry knew that it still bothered him even though he didn't complain about it as much.

He also noted a few changes in his behavior recently. He seem to be withdrawing from the guys. He would go off on his own and do whatever it was he did without them. Embry had ask a few times if there was some deep dark secret in his closet that he was holding back from his best friends. He would of course laugh at Embry and tell him he sounded so like a pansy ass girl.

Embry dropped it and stopped asking all together. He didn't like Collin when he showed his arrogant side. The only person who ever dared to stand up to Collin when he acted like that was Jake. Jake didn't gives a rats ass if he upset Collin in the least. Jake was the sort of guy who would call you out when he saw you acting like a dumbass. He did not tolerate anyone picking on anyone no matter what their size.

Embry went to the bathroom to take a quick shower before he would try to get a little rest. He needed to clean off all the sticky residue from the whip cream and the honey she had pulled out during their last session before he had slipped out this morning.

When he open the bathroom door he saw something unusual. The bathroom was always a mess but what he saw hanging out from underneath the bathroom sink made his gut twist up. A photo of Bella had fallen out between pages of a sports magazine that Collin had a subscription to.

Why would anyone in this apartment have a picture of Bella? Somehow he knew that this was a bad sign. Taking the picture he folded it up and sat it in his back pocket before he took them off and carefully laid them away from the dirty clothes pile. Turning the hot water on he wondered which one of his two friends had been harboring a secret crush on Jake's girl. Collin or Quil?

He was not about to face his own feelings that he had started to experience toward Bella before Jake revealed their change in status. Truthfully he had liked Bella for quite sometime now. However it was too late for him to ever open up and reveal those feelings for her. If he was being truthful he always knew Bella was too good for him. He hoped things worked out the way Bella and Jake hoped for.
The question remained in his head as he showered was it possible that Collin or Quil had also shared secret feelings for Bella? If so how long had this been going on? The truly most intriguing question of all was how long had they been hiding these feelings for Bella and how would Jake react when he showed him the picture?

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Ben woke up with a massive hangover. He hated when he went out and drank all night. He had been finding himself blacking out lately. It scared him to think what he might have done while he was smashed to pieces on a substance that made him feel courageous.

He started up the coffee pot and sat at the kitchen table considering what he was going to do today when he noticed his cell phone's little red light was flashing informing him he had a message.

Opening the phone he saw he had missed a text message sometime late in the night.

You missed out on a great night dude. Wish you could have seen her face.

Ben frowned at the strange message. The number was blocked. What the hell had happened? Whose face was this person speaking of? Standing up he poured himself a fresh hot cup of coffee. He was too tired to even attempt at sugar and cream. It would take too much energy to try and open the fridge and then the cupboards.

Sipping on the coffee and praying that his headache would just fade away with each sip he took he stared at the message as he tried to recall what he had done last night and who he had been with. He continued to come up blank.

Smashing his fist on the tabletop he blew out a long and deep breathe.

He missed Angela he thought to himself. He missed her so much it broke his heart. He would never understand women. He had finally settled down and was looking forward to a future with her when she suddenly decided to accuse him of cheating on her and had a newfound desire for a little of adventure in her life.

He thought back to his earlier college days when they were apart. They had both survived the distance between them and in fact he felt like it was the reason today that he loved her so much. He knew what life was like without her in it. He cherished the time they spent together. Now she suddenly did not find him as desirable as she once had.

He wasn't fooled. He knew that Alice and Bella had been the reason she suddenly changed her views of her future, of their future. He hated them both. He hated how they had rejected him. Sure, they had been nice about it and even remained close friends of his but deep in his heart it still hurt his ego regardless of how polite they had been about it.

He thought about a conversation he had shared a few weeks ago with Collin. Collin and Ben had shared a dorm together until Collin's baseball career had ended. Collin had reminded him of how much fun they use to have going out clubbing together.

At first he had been okay with a casual drink or two while Collin flirted with the ladies but he never dared to make a move on any of them. He had been completely head over heels in love with Angela. Then when the fighting begun and shortly afterwards the break up he had caved into Collin's suggestions. He had gone out several times with him since the break up. Funny, how each time he had he could not tell you much about what they did together. He always woke up the next day with a hangover.

He made a mental note not to go out with the guy for awhile. He needed to figure out some things. He knew that Collin would not understand and probably be disappointed in him but he didn't care about all that. He had to figure out where he was heading in life and why the hell he kept having blackouts.

Looking at the message for the third time he decided he should probably get a check up with one of the doctors he was always selling new pharmaceuticals to and then he might discover what was behind the darkness and the forgotten moments of his life.

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You guys are so awesome! Thanks for the wonderful reviews and sorry for the delay on the update. Xoxo A