A/N: Hi! So. Last chapter was chipper, non? Hmm? Yeah? *coughs*

Six months went by in a blur.

Under Tanya and Bella's watchful eyes, the restaurant flourished. Like any business, old or new, they had their hiccups, but the two women were true partners. They managed everything from minor kitchen disasters to shipping errors to major staff drama with aplomb.

"The new girl quit today. She wouldn't tell us why," Bella said to Edward when he asked how her day had been.

Privately, Edward couldn't help but think it had something to do with James. The way the kid looked at the girls sometimes gave Edward the creeps. But as he had no real basis for his opinion other than a strong dislike for the other man, Edward kept his mouth shut. There wasn't any reason to put more on Bella's plate.

"It's a first job for a lot of them," he said instead. "College kids just aren't known for being dependable."

"Some of them are. I don't know what I'd do without Benjamin, Mary, and James. We're going to promote one of them soon."

Edward kept his mouth shut on the matter and kissed her to distract both of them.

In that six months, Edward and Bella's relationship deepened and matured. They were getting to that comfortable place where they were a team despite the small distance that separated him. Bella was always with him on his most important days and he with her.

There were some really great days.

Bella met Edward's parents when they came to visit the week before Alice and Jasper's wedding. They remembered her father well, and they were very happy to see their loner son settled. Embarrassingly happy on his mother's part.

"I swear she about chokes on satisfaction every time I touch you," Edward muttered to Bella privately.

She snickered and, he noticed afterward, touched him as often as it was socially acceptable to do in front of someone's mother.

They did have a minor spat that week when Bella noted Emmett's wife Rosalie was cold with her. Suffice it to say that, while Emmett had understood and didn't judge Bella for what she did, Rosalie was on the other side of the coin. She judged. Hard.

Bella was a little miffed that Edward didn't say something to her, but quickly came to agree with his assessment that saying anything to Rosalie had about as much effect as punching a brick wall; it just wasn't worth the bruised knuckles. Rosalie had a strong personality, and even in the short time she had known her, it was obvious the only person who could change her mind was her.

Edward didn't confront her about her attitude. On the other hand, when Rosalie straight out told him Bella was bad news and she was considering telling his parents what she did for a living, he didn't hesitate to stand up for his girlfriend.

"Tell me what you think is worse, Rose. I mean on a personal level. Bella, because she sells pictures of her body, or people like you who judged a complete stranger as being bad and unworthy of love. Personally, in a list of bad things we can do and people we can be, I'd rather be the nudist than the one so high on their horse, they would call other human beings worthless in so many words.

"As to your threat, go ahead and tell them. Neither Bella nor I are ashamed of what she does. Mom and Dad have actually bothered to get to know her. If they were shallow enough to let something like that overwrite the fact she's an amazing person and she makes me happy…" He shrugged. "Well, I don't think you know them as well as you think you do."

By the end of that week, Bella and Rosalie had adopted an attitude of icy tolerance toward each other. Everyone else accepted Bella readily, including, much to Rosalie's irritation, her and Emmett's son. Henry, all of three years old, thought Bella was hilarious. He frequently climbed onto her lap to tell his latest story or show her his newest treasure.

Despite the minor tension, the week of Alice and Jasper's wedding was a great one. Edward was surrounded constantly with all the people who mattered most to him. On the big day, he stood up for Jasper as best man. He watched his twin sister and best friend vow to make a life together. Then, after the ceremony, he spent the rest of the evening with the most beautiful woman in the room either at his side or in his arms.

It might have been Alice's big day, but when Bella let him lead her out on the dance floor, she was the only person he saw. They swayed together, oblivious to anyone else until Emmett cut in when a faster song came on.

There were good times, but there were a few hard times too. As head over heels in love as they were, Edward and Bella fought sometimes. There were the typical spats that any couple were prone to, and then the not so typical.

Once, Edward signed on his Tumblr account only to see a preview of Bella's newest photo set. For once, it stole his breath in a bad way. Seeing it was like having a fist driven into his stomach.

She was dressed, and undressed, as a witch.

It had only been a week or so before, when they were in bed together, that Edward was teasing her as usual that she was a witch. He threatened to get her a big black hat and something naughty to go with it.

Her eyes had sparked, and she'd kissed him. "Maybe someday."

When he confronted her about it, she seemed genuinely mystified to find him so upset.

"The witch thing was ours. Mine specifically," Edward said. "I know it's a stupid little nickname, but it was special to me."

She winced at the word was. "I love it when you call me that," she said in a small voice.

"That's why I don't understand how you could do this. You know for a fact it's hard on me, knowing other people get to see you naked, dressed all sexy for them and not me. But I deal with it, because I know the difference between what's real and what just feels bad. This is personal.I don't want to share personal things for strangers to jack off to."

He watched her clenched jaw work as she thought what he was saying through. He could tell she wanted to argue, but she was considering her words carefully before she answered. "I didn't think about it that way. I thought… Well, I didn't really think it was different than if I dressed up like a witch on Halloween."

"It's not the same thing at all. Dressing sexy-I get that. Everyone does that, and if you wore a sexy witch's outfit on Halloween, that's an homage to us. That's cute. But this isn't about us, or it shouldn't be. You take this part of you and sell it. It makes something very personal cheaper."

"No, I get it," Bella said, her voice shaky now. "I really didn't think about it like that. I thought you'd like it."

He caught her around the waist, turning her to face him. "I would have, if it was just ours."

"I'm sorry. I never wanted to hurt you like that."

They hugged and kissed and made up. The nickname was lost, but that was a loss Edward could live with. The more important lesson was that they were getting better at navigating problems. They were both determined and willing to approach every hurdle together, hands firmly clasped.

By far the most difficult thing to deal with in their relationship was the distance. Especially with traffic, there were times Edward and Bella didn't get to see each other for a week or more. Bella was busy with the restaurant, and Edward had his own job to think about. But even when they could be together on the weekend, it wasn't enough. More than once, Edward fell asleep with his cell pressed to his ear, listening to Bella's words begin to slur as she too succumbed to sleep.

The quiet of the night had never been lonely before, but now he was in love, and his bed was too empty.

"Uh oh."

Edward watched the upside down image of his sister and Jasper as they walked into his apartment unannounced. Seeing him, Jasper sighed and stepped right back out. "I'll get the libations. Edward, is this bad enough to warrant cookie dough and ice cream?"

In the meantime, Alice had come over and sat on the couch upside down beside him. "Tell me all about it, little brother. What crisis are we in today?"

"Christ, and you guys think I'm dramatic," Edward muttered. "There's no crisis."

Jasper cautiously poked his head back in the door. "So no need for hard alcohol then?"

"Get your ass back in here."

"Now he's being bossy." Jasper came in and shut the door behind him. "I don't know about this guy, sugar. We might be better off leaving him to his own devices this evening."

"Hush, you." Alice kicked the side of Edward's leg. "You. Speak."

Edward barked.

"Smart ass," Alice said, laughing anyway. "Come on. Spill."

Edward folded his hands across his belly staring at nothing. "I'm looking for jobs in the OC."

"Oh," both Alice and Jasper said at the same time.

"I can't not see her every night anymore."

"But what about me?" Alice asked, the words tumbling out too quick for her to have thought them through.

Edward tilted his head to look at his sister. His twin. They were each others constant-the only home they knew. "I've actually been sitting here trying to figure out how I get to keep both of you," he said with a small smile.

Alice slid forward onto her hands and head and then scrambled upright. Edward turned around a little more gracefully as these things went. They ended up in a big sibling tangle on the couch.

"If we pool our money, we can just relocate her restaurant here?" Alice asked in a shaky voice. She pulled back with a smile on her face. "It's not like I didn't see this coming. You pout like a little bitch when you'd rather be over there-which is always." She sighed. "Have you told her?"

"Not yet."

"Well get on that," Jasper said, coming over to sit on the other side of Alice. He slung his arm around her. "I was wondering if the day would ever come that I didn't have to share her with you."

Edward's cell phone rang then, and his smile widened as it always did when Bella called. "Speak of the devil." He reached for it. "Hey, angel."

"Devil or angel. Tell him to make up his mind," Jasper whispered to Alice.

"The devil was an angel, sweetheart," Alice whispered back.

Edward waved his hand frantically to get them to shut up. "Can you repeat that?" he said into the phone, hoping against hope that he had just heard Tanya wrong.

"Bella's in the hospital," Tanya repeated. She sounded small and scared and totally un-Tanya-like. "I don't know much. They called me, but she was in Radiology when I got here."

"Why did they call you?" Edward knew damn well it wasn't the most important question, but his brain was short-circuiting in panic-mode. He raced around, trying to find his shoes and his keys.

"Like I said, I don't know much. The doctors won't talk to me. They probably won't talk to you either but get here. She needs you."

"I'm coming. Tell her I'm coming when you see her. Call me."

As he got to the door, Jasper grabbed the keys from his hands. "I'm driving. Don't argue. Let's go."

Edward did argue for as little good as it did him. Jasper refused to be swayed. They were flying down the 101 before Edward stopped bitching and started obsessively calling the hospital and Bella's phone.

"Dammit. Why don't I have Tanya's phone number?" he asked when it was obvious Bella's phone had been turned off.

From the backseat, Alice rubbed his shoulder. "You're not supposed to have phones on at the hospital. Isn't that a rule?"

"If it is, it's a fucked up rule." Edward punched the dashboard in frustration, willing the car to go faster even though Jasper was pushing ninety as it was. "Nothing makes sense. Why didn't they call me?"

Finally, they arrived at the hospital. Edward got out before the car stopped moving and Alice followed him. Tanya got back out to the reception area before Edward could get himself thrown out of the place for yelling at the nurses.

"Come here. Come here." Tanya took him by the hands, leading him away from the prying eyes all around them.

Edward wasn't interesting in being led away. He took his hands back. "Where's Bella?" The way Tanya looked at him then, Edward had to fight back a whimper. He was more afraid than he'd ever been in his life, and the look on her face pushed him into complete terror. He was sure his world was about to be obliterated. "Tell me."

"She's going to be fine, first of all."

Edward exhaled in a gust, woozy with relief. She was alive then. That was the most important part. Anything else he could deal with. They would deal with it together. This time, it was him who squeezed Tanya's hands. "What happened?"

Tanya took a deep breath. "This is as much as I know, okay? James was at her place."

He heard Alice gasp. Every bone in Edward's body went rigid. "What?" The word was low and dangerous, filled with dread and a fury only contained because he didn't know where to aim it yet.

"I don't know why, and I don't know exactly what happened," Tanya said. "He attacked her. I know that much. She's beat up pretty badly."

Dread went down Edward's spine, and his heart twisted to the point of agony. "Oh god. Tanya. Did he…"

"He tried," Tanya said quickly, putting him out of his misery. Her words were clipped, tight, and her eyes glinted with anger. "He got pretty far. Too far." She grimaced and put a hand to her throat. "She has horrible bruises around her throat, and they thought she might have internal bleeding. There's nothing broken that won't heal, but they're keeping her overnight for observation."

At that, Edward's legs did give out. He reached out blindly, barely catching himself on the wall. "Jesus," he muttered under his breath. He scrubbed a hand over his eyes, thinking for a few horrible seconds that he was going to either throw up or start sobbing. Alice's hand on his back grounded him somewhat. "I need to see her, Tanya. Where is she?"

Tanya stepped to his side and touched his arm. "She's talking with the police right now, but Edward...You have to understand. She's not thinking very clearly right now."

Edward's gut twisted. "What?"

Tanya sighed, her expression pitying. "She doesn't want to see you right now. She specifically asked me to keep you away. In fact, she got really upset when she heard I called you."

All the breath left Edward's body. "What?" he asked again, the word ragged this time.

"I don't know. Who knows what's going on in her head right now. I'm sure she doesn't really mean it, but I don't want to upset her. When the police are done, I promise I'll talk to her again, and we'll go from there, okay?"

Alice tugged Edward, managing to lead him to a chair before he collapsed. He folded forward, his head in his hands, hair gripped in his fists.

Nothing made sense. He needed answers.

"Tanya," he said, his voice raw with too many emotions. "Where is he?"

Tanya didn't need to ask who he was talking about. "Here, actually," she said, her tone angry again. "Bella got him pretty good."

Edward stood up. Whatever Bella had done to James, he was going to make it worse by at least double. By then, Jasper had joined them, so he shouldn't have been surprised when his brother-in-law grabbed him by the arm before he could take off.

"Don't try it, Edward. There's a cop outside his room too," Tanya said. "Don't think I haven't thought of it myself."

"I'm going to kill him," Edward muttered under his breath, but he let Jasper and Alice sit him back down again. "I'm going to fucking kill him."

His words were angry, but even as he growled them, his voice cracked. He hung his head, scared and heartbroken and unable to grasp the idea that anyone would hurt his beautiful, vivacious Bella. Why? Why would anyone do this?

And why didn't she want to see him? He knew he she had to be scared. Why wasn't it him she wanted most? More than anything, he wanted his arms around her, to be able to see and feel her whole up against him. He wanted to be her comfort.

He wanted, needed, to do something.

There was nothing he could do but wait.

A/N: I know. I'm sorry.

Uh. I love you?