Thank you to all my readers for your reviews, alerts and favorites :) Writing YCLOM is a challenge for me after writing a romance story and I hope you guys still stick to the story.

Thank you to my beta, xx-twilight7-xx (Anita), for beta'ing the chapter ^^ I'm sorry for the delay.

Chapter 5

The Cullens

I returned to the main room on the first floor after Carlisle Cullen released me. Lunch time was over; therefore most of them will not spend their time in the lunch room. Some of the volunteers were still in the main room, including Kate and Garrett. Kate quickly approached me when she saw my arrival.

"Bella, are you alright? I heard what happened from Dr. Cullen. I'm sorry for asking you to go to the second floor. Are you hurt?" she asked me worriedly.

I briefly glanced over Kate's shoulder to see Garrett and others looking at me with curious expressions. I smiled slightly and looked back at Kate. "I'm fine, really. It's not a big deal-"

"Not a big deal?" Kate almost shouted at me. "I just asked you to go to the second floor and one of the kids almost hurt you. That's not a big deal."

"Kate, please," I interjected. This has got to stop. They must hear the truth, not just some rumors about what happened to me and I couldn't let them think badly about Edward. "I'm not lying. I'm fine. That man….." I took a deep breath. "Edward….well, he just tried to help me not to fall on my own feet. He didn't hurt me."

Her eyebrows shot up. "He didn't?"

I almost rolled my eyes. "No, he didn't."

There was a moment of silence before Garrett approached us and smiled warmly at me. "We're glad to hear that you are fine. I promise this thing won't happen again."

I shrugged. "I really don't mind."

Garrett smiled again. "Again, I apologize, Bella. You can go back to the kids now. I think Margaret was looking for you."

I chuckled lightly. "Alright."

I left all of them on the main room and I walked back to the hall where I could see Margaret. Some of the kids were still in the hall while some of them must be dealing with their therapy. I saw Margaret sitting in the corner of the room with a book in her hands. I smiled and quickly took my place next to her. She lifted her face and then smiled back at me.

"Hey, Bella," she greeted me.

"Hey, Margaret. I'm sorry if I was a bit late. I just needed to do some errands," I told her, half lying.

She shook her head. "It's alright."

I nodded and pulled out my notes and began to write the draft for my project. Margaret seemed absorbed with her book and the chance was slim for us to have a conversation. I was busy scrabbling notes when suddenly Margaret spoke to me in a hushed tone, "Is it true that you just met Edward?"

My hand stilled and I raised my head to look at her face. "Excuse me?"

Margaret's grey eyes stared at me curiously. "Some of the kids here told me that you met Edward at lunch. I guess that would explain why you were not here at lunch time. What happened?"

I sighed. Not this again. "Before I tell you my story, I want to know what you've heard from the kids."

Margaret played with the hem of her shirt. "Well….they said that Kate asked you to go up to the second floor to see Dr. Cullen and then Edward was there and he tried to hurt you before Dr. Cullen separated the both of you."

My eyes widened. Where did she hear about that story and the most important thing was how could this version be the one which got spread around among the kids?

"So, is it true? He didn't hurt you, did he?" She asked me again, more curious this time.

I folded my arms on the desk and looked at her. "If the story was true and Edward did hurt me, do you see any signs on my body that he hurt me?" I asked her.

Margaret blinked several times. "Um…no," she answered in low voice.

I nodded slowly. "Then, you must know that the story is not true. The truth is Kate did ask me to go to the second floor and I was a little bit clumsy so I nearly fell on my feet, but Edward helped me. He held me so I would not fall and then Dr. Cullen saw the both of us. He asked Edward to return to his room and Dr. Cullen asked me to company him for a lunch."

"Wow."

My eyebrows shot up. "Wow?"

"Seriously, Bella? Edward is dangerous. He nearly killed one of the kids here before Dr. Cullen sedated him. He is never allowed going to the first floor without supervision again," Margaret said again.

"I saw him in the lunch room on my first day," I remembered the first time I saw him more closely.

Margaret nodded. "I've seen him several times too. Dr. Cullen is always with him though."

I pursed my lips. "Are they close? I mean…Dr. Cullen and Edward. They seem to have a connection."

She shrugged. "I didn't know about that. The permanent volunteers and the staff never talk much about kids with intense cases. We just hear rumors."

I smiled coyly. "Is this rumor including the story that you asked me before?"

Margaret blushed slightly and I laughed.

"Rumor is a truth or the opposite from the truth," I said again to her. "You see for yourself that I'm fine. Please, tell other kids that the story is not true. Especially on the Edward part."

Margaret blushed again. "I'm sorry."

I chuckled. "It's alright, Margaret. There's nothing to forgive." I sighed. "The rumors that you just talked about….what is it?"

She smiled. "Well, all I can say is Dr. Cullen is Edward's relative."

I raised my eyebrows. "A relative? Like what? Father and son or Uncle and nephew?"

She shrugged again. "That was all that they told us. Maybe you could ask Kate and Garrett or the staff about that. He was already here when I arrived at this place."

I nodded thoughtfully.

A relative? It made sense. My curiosity peaked. "You said that Edward is dangerous. What was exactly happened at that time?"

Margaret shrugged. "I didn't see the whole scene. They had already carried him away from us when I arrived. The kid…his name is Jeremy." She gestured to a boy who sat with a pony tailed man far enough from us.

I narrowed my eyes. Jeremy looked like a 17 years old boy with dark hair. "What happened to him?" I asked Margaret without removing my eyes from him.

"Drugs. Typical case," Margaret answered in bored tone.

And then the pony tailed man raised his head and our gaze met. He grinned and I shivered. My instinct said that this man was not the kind to befriend with and I didn't think I wanted to get close to the man. I quickly turned my head back to Margaret. "So, there is no explanation on why Edward attacked Jeremy?"

"He never wants to talk about that," she interjected. "Jeremy must deal with therapy twice as long than the rest of us here."

"Margaret? It's time for your therapy session. A woman's voice interrupted our conversation and I turned my head to see a middle age woman standing next to our table. I smiled to Dr. Bertha Adams, one of the doctors here.

Margaret rolled her eyes and closed her book. She looked at me. "I'll see you around, Bella. You still are coming here tomorrow, right?" Her eyes looked at me full with hope.

My heart clenched and I held her hands. "Of course I will. Now, go with Dr. Adams and be good to her."

She smiled and hugged me. I smiled in return and patted her back. "Thank you, Bella."

I released my hug and touched the tip of her nose. "You're welcome, Margaret. I'll see you tomorrow."

Margaret giggled and rose from her chair to follow Dr. Adams. I watched them walk away and returned to my notes. I continued to write my draft before I felt someone's presence next to me.

"Hello."

I stopped writing and looked over to see the pony tailed man standing in front of me. I suppressed the chill feeling on my spine when I saw his smile.

"Yes?"

"I believe we haven't introduced ourselves yet. My name is James. And you are…."

I swallowed hard. "Um…Bella."

He extended his hand and I took it gingerly. His thumb caressed my palm and I pulled my hand from his grasp immediately. This man was not good at all and why he was even here in the first place was beyond me. He smiled and gestured to the chair which Margaret had sat in earlier.

"May I?"

I looked at James briefly. At least if he wanted to do something to me, we were still in the public place. I nodded slowly.

He grinned and sat next to me. "So, Bella…what do you think of this place?"

I nervously played with the pen in my hand. His gaze and his demeanor really made me uncomfortable. "Um…this place is nice and the kids are great," I answered shortly.

He smirked. "And what about the volunteers?"

I shrugged and tried my best to keep calm. "I just know one girl. Her name is Angela."

He leaned his body in the chair towards me and looked at me with his blue eyes. "So, I didn't count?"

I laughed nervously. "Well, not until twenty seconds ago."

James smirked. "I feel honored that I am the first male which had the chance to introduce myself to you. Do you want to have a nice coffee with me after we have finished here?"

I blinked several times and looked over to my notes. I must think of an excuse. I honestly didn't want to spend my alone time with him. "I'm sorry, but I'm busy tonight. Maybe next time."

He shrugged. "Don't worry. I have time."

"What about the kid? His name is Jeremy, right?" I tried to change the subject.

James chuckled. "He already returned to his room. He said he didn't feel very well. I can understand, though. It's not easy to deal with a trauma of being nearly killed by one of the kids here."

I went stiff.

He titled his head and folded his arms on the table. "I heard that you are the one who got lucky to meet this Edward. Tell me, Bella. Did he hurt you or did he threaten you not to tell us about what he did before Dr. Cullen saved you?"

"You have no idea what you are talking about," I hissed at him.

James raised his hands and leaned back in his chair. "Hey, I just want to protect you, baby. You will thank me later." His eyes glinted mischievously. "Well, I'll accept any kind of gratitude you want to give me."

I narrowed my eyes and quickly gathered my things from the table. "First, keep that dream to yourself." I stood up from the chair and glared at him. "Second, my name is not 'baby'".

I quickly walked from the hall and met with Kate to say goodbye to her. I got in into my truck and revved the engine. I just wanted to have a nice shower before I cuddled under my blanket and listened to some music from my iPod. I drove from the parking lot and continued the journey to my dorm. Lots of things had happened today and it was a miracle that I still could think clearly, mostly when I had to deal with James. Edward was the first thing on my mind. It seemed he has many layers that no one had ever attempted to break. I shivered again when I remembered his green eyes. Those eyes didn't belong to someone who could kill other people.

I sighed in relief when I finally parked in the dorm parking lot. I turned the engine off and got out from the truck. I walked to the building and straight to my room. Alice was bouncing on the bed when she saw me.

"Hey, Bella. Guess who I just met today." She asked me cheerfully.

I blinked. "Uh…I don't know?" It was more like a question rather than an answer.

She clapped her hands. "I met Jasper."

My eyebrows shot up. "You met Jasper? The guy from the mall?"

Alice nodded furiously. "And guess what? Rosalie was there too, but she was with someone."

I looked at him curiously. "Go on."

Alice's blue eyes glinted mischievously. "She was with Emmett Cullen."

I froze.

"What did you say?" I was afraid there was something wrong with my hearing.

Alice rolled her eyes. "I said I just met with Emmett Cullen and guess what?"

I took several deep breaths and looked again to my best friend. "Let me guess. He is Dr. Cullen's son."

Chapter 6 was on the way :) You could follow me on Twitter (tri4mut) to know the progress of my stories :)

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