Chapter 10: The News

I looked at my clock for the hundredth time that hour, and sat back in frustration. I had been at work almost the entire morning trying to fix the mess that the undergraduates had made of the data. The group of students who worked in the lab were not very focused and always made a million mistakes. They just couldn't complete the task correctly. The only driving force I had was that Bella would soon be at work. She started at one, and I really couldn't wait to see her.

"Edward, the new group of participants are here. Are you going to brief them or do I?" One of the students said as he walked into my office.

"I'll do it." I replied it would take my mind of Bella if I had something a bit more interesting to do.

I slowly got up taking a glance towards the lobby to see if Bella had come in early. Since she was still not there I followed the student out. The briefing was rather long, but necessary. All of the participants had to fill out a consent form and a range of surveys. Then needed to be randomly placed into one of three groups before the experiment began.

I noticed it was almost two when I was finished, and it was time to go see Bella. As I looked around her desk I noticed that none of her stuff was there. Her computer was turned off and there a bunch of missed calls on her phone. Something definitely didn't seem right.

"Do you know if Bella is in today?" I asked the office manager who was standing near the copy machine.

"She should be, but I haven't seen her, and she hasn't called." Lydia said with a shrug. "It's very weird, because she always calls if she's not coming in."

"Thank you." I said walking back into my office. It all felt really strange. It was not like Bella to blow off work. She was very responsible.

I decided to call her, and make sure everything was alright. But as the phone rang it went straight to her voicemail, and there was no answer at her house. I found that I could not concentrate, because something didn't seem right.

I quickly called Jasper and asked him for Alice's phone number. Something was definitely wrong, and I really wanted to make sure that nothing had happened.

"Hi, Alice it's Edward." I greeted when she picked up the phone.

"Hi, Edward." Alice replied. "Is everything ok?"

"Do you know if something is wrong with Bella? She's not at work and doesn't pick up her phone." I asked hoping she had an explanation.

"No, she didn't show up for lunch, but Rose and I figured she was eating with you." Alice responded.

"No, I haven't seen her all day." I said with a frown.

"I think she said that she was going to the library to do some research before work. I'm on my way home, I'll call you if I hear anything." She added.

"Thanks, Alice." I said even more worried than before.

I sat staring at my computer for a few minutes before going to check the library. I couldn't shake the feeling that something had happened. I immediately went straight to where she usually sat and found her stuff.

Her phone and her books were sitting on the armchair, and she was nowhere to be seen. "Bella?" I called as my phone began to ring.

"Hello." I said flipping my phone open.

"Edward, there's something wrong with her. She's locked and crying in her room. I really think something happened." Alice said quickly in obvious distress.

"Her stuff is in the library, Alice. I'll be there in a few minutes. Try to get her to open the door." I said before grabbing all her stuff and running out of the library and to my car.

I made it to her building in record time, and found Rose waiting for me by the door. "What happened?" I asked as she let me in.

"She just let Alice in and they're talking." Rose explained as I walked in finding her crying on Alice's lap on her bed.

"Bella?" I said tenderly sitting on the edge of the bed.

She didn't look up to me, but I could see her eyes were red and puffy, and there was a dark bruise near her chin. "Bella, Edward is here." Alice whispered rubbing her back.

"What happened, Love?" I whispered reaching for her hand.

"I tried to stop him." She mumbled her sobs coming harder as she threw herself against my chest holding on to me for dear life.

"Stop who?" I asked rubbing small circles on her back trying to comfort her. Alice slowly got up leaving us alone.

"He cornered me, and tried to, and tried to." She said unable to finish.

"Bella, please tell me what happened. Who did this to you? I want to help you." I urged noticing the purple bruise on her neck.

"Mike almost raped me." She said softly looking down in embarrassment.

I felt the anger boil inside me. How dare he lay a finger on her? How dare he lay a finger on anyone? "Did he hurt you?" I asked as her tears continued to fall.

"Not really, I was able to get away. But I'm scared. I'm afraid I won't be able to get away next time. I was barely able to get away this time." She admitted burying her head in my shoulder.

"He's never going to come near you, and I'll make sure he gets what's coming to him." I responded. I was going to tear him apart

"Edward, don't. I don't want you to get hurt." She cried wrapping her arms around me. "I will never forgive myself if something happened to you."

"Nothing is going to happen." I assured her. "But he's going to pay for what he did."

"Did he do anything? Do you want to go to the hospital or to the police?" I inquired not sure as to what she wanted to do. Even though I wanted to make him hurt, I needed to be there for her. She was more important than him.

"No!" She practically yelled. "I don't want anyone to know. I stopped him before he could really do anything."

I nodded. I didn't want to force her to do something she wasn't ready. I would talk to her later about reporting it. He did not get to do anything to her, but another girl may not be so lucky. She fell asleep a few minutes later with her head on my chest. Her sobs had died down to whimpers, but her grip on me did not loosen.

It was close to ten when I attempted to get up to stretch, and have Alice or Rose help her change. "Don't leave me." She said her eyes opening and her arms reaching for me.

"I'm not going anywhere." I said. "I was going to have Alice or Rose help you change to something more comfortable."

She nodded sadly as I walked outside finding Rose and Alice talking on the couch. "How is she?" Rose asked turning to me.

"She just woke up when I moved her. Could one of you help her change. She can't be comfortable in those clothes." I said sitting on the armchair and sighing.

"I'll go." Alice volunteered before leaving.

"How are you doing?" Rose asked watching me.

"Honestly, I feel a mixture of anger and guilt. I can't wait to get my hands on that monster. But I feel like I should've been there to protect her. Like I might have been able to stop him sooner." I answered closing my eyes and taking a deep breath.

"Don't kill yourself over this, Edward. Nobody could've predicted this, and you're doing more than enough by just being there for her. She's really going to need you, so don't do anything stupid." Rose warned.

"So I'm suppose to let him get away with it." I said angrily.

"Ofcourse not. I'm all for making him pay, but don't let him hurt you." Rose corrected as Alice walked out of Bella's room.

"She's asking for you." Alice stated.

"Do you want us to call the guys to bring you some clothes?" Rose asked.

I nodded before walking back to Bella's room. She was wearing an oversized shirt and her hair was picked up in a ponytail. "Do you feel better?" I questioned as I sat on the edge of her bed her hand finding mine.

"I guess." She said with a shrug. "Will you stay with me? I don't think I can be alone?" She asked timidly.

"Ofcourse, I'll be here for as long as you need me." I said before kicking off my shoes and lying down next her.

"Thank you." She whispered as I wrapped my arms around her.

"It's nothing." I replied kissing the top of her head. "We'll get through this together." I added kissing her temple as she drifted to sleep.

I lay awake for hours after she was asleep. I couldn't sleep. I felt the guilt finally get to me, and my heart ached, because she was in pain. I would've done anything to take her sadness away, but I knew I couldn't. The only thing I could do was be there for her, and I was never going to allow him to get near her.

A/N: Still no confrontation with Mike, but that is definitely in the next chapter which I have already started writing. Edward is far more concerned about Bella right now than on Mike, but it is definitely on his mind.

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