"Alice, what is it?" I was beginning to get worried. Possibilities were swirling around in my head as to why she was so worked up.

And then my heart stopped. My lungs ceased to work. My brain stopped functioning properly.

I shut down completely when I heard that velvety voice.

"Bella."

"Edward," I breathed. I was stunned. I was frozen in the doorway. The room was silent except for the rain pattering away outside the window.

After what seem like eternity but in reality was probably 5 minutes, Alice walked over to the couch and began to sob quietly, wrapping her arms around herself for support.

I was still frozen staring at him when I heard her and I suddenly remembered that I was still in the doorway and the door was wide open. Upon this realization I broke eye contact with him. I closed the door and put on the deadbolt before walking over to sit next to Alice. I began to rub her back to soothe her before giving up and pulling her into a hug. The room was still silent.

I looked up to where he was still frozen standing in front of the dining table chair he'd probably knocked over jumping up when I came in. He had a distant look on his face as he stared back at me, as though he was recalling a memory. I kept rubbing Alice's back until she broke the hug and pulled away, all the while my eyes stayed locked with his. She wiped her face and quieted herself before turning to me.

"Bella."

I didn't respond to her instead keeping up the staring game between him and I. I'm not sure what facial expression I had but it apparently wasn't a good one because of the way she was looking at me.

"Bella, calm down," Alice chided as she began rubbing her hand up and down my arm to calm me down.

It was then that I realized my facial expression. It was somewhere between contempt and pure anger, possibly a mix of both.

"I'm fine, Alice." My malicious tone betrayed me as I responded to her, finally breaking eye contact with him again. I looked at her directly and added, "Just wondering what the fuck is going on."

She averted her eyes to a corner of the room and I followed her gaze. There next to her coffee table were three suitcases and a duffle bag.

"What is that?" I ask staring holes into the fabric on the bags.

"He says he's staying," Alice says quietly.

Her voice immediately takes me back to the night after he left.

I was curled into a tight ball against the headboard of my bed when I heard a knock at the bedroom door. I didn't move, flinch, or even turn my eyes from the small patch of fabric I was focused on, instead just sitting on top of my down comforter. My eyes were still swollen from my constant crying and I hadn't eaten all day. I probably smelled horrible, seeing as I hadn't showered since yesterday…before it happened.

When whoever was knocking on my door got tired of waiting they cracked it open and peeked inside.

"Is it okay for me to come in, Sweetie?" I heard my dad's voice. "Alice is here to see you."

I still didn't respond. I was too busy with my thoughts and analyzing every fiber of frayed edge of the handmade quilt on my bed.

After another moment of silence, dad started to come in. The door creaked as he opened it.

"Honey, Alice wants to talk to you." The awkward silence continued. I had currently graduated from the frayed edge of the quilt to the ripped fibers in the center of it.

"I'm going to go downstairs so that you two can have some alone time," he said as he grunted. "I'll be in the living room. Call me if you need anything, Bella." He slowly shuffled down the hallway and down the stairs. Alice and I were still frozen when we heard the sound of some sports game wafting up the staircase.

"Bella…" Her voice was soft and timid. Quite the opposite of the rambunctious drunk she'd been at the New Year's party.

"Bella…" She chided. I continued to stare at the ripped quilt without saying a word.

"Bella… I'm sorry," My head popped up to look at her just as the first tear rolled down her cheek. "I should have known something was up and tried to stop him. I should have-" She couldn't finish getting the words out before her body began shaking violently with sobs.

I snapped out of my trance as the first sob overtook her. I jumped up from the bed and ran over to hug her.

"It was her. It was the girl." I pulled back to look her in the face in surprise. She was shaking her head as the tears fell. "I'm so s-s-sorry Bella."

I pulled her back into the hug and squeezed her shoulders tightly.

"I just never thought my big brother would leave me like that," she blubbered into my shoulder. "He always said that he would take me with him when he got out of this place."

I rubbed her back as I thought something along the same lines.

He said he wouldn't leave me either Alice. He lied to both of us.

Alice starts to wring imaginary water out of her shirt.

My silence is apparently deafening as it isn't long before he speaks up.

"I'm sorry." His voice is strong and confident but his volume is pretty low.

"What did you just say?" I ask as my head whips toward him in disbelief.

"Bella, I know I left without the best of goodbyes but I want to make it better. I want to right my wrongs that I made all those years ago. I want you to forgive me because I'm not going anywhere. I'm here to stay this time."

I still sat on the couch in silence. Both of the Cullens were staring at me intently waiting for a response.

"Say something, Bella. Please."

I had a large breath intake before I stood up and marched over to him and got in his face. He was substantially taller than me which made 'in his face' the equivalent of my face to his chest. Even so, he stepped back from my sudden approach.

"What, you don't want to be near me now?" He cringed at my words. "Oh wait, I forgot. I'm nothing to you."

"Bella, I-" He started apologetically, but I wasn't hearing it.

"NO! You don't get to show up and do this shit. It's not going to happen like that. You think that you can just show up and say you're staying? That you're not going anywhere? NEWSFLASH DAMMIT: YOU. ARE THE ONE. WHO LEFT! No one held a gun to your fucking head and told you to leave. You chose to leave on your own."

"Bella-" he tried.

"Shut the fuck up Edward." He flinched as his name rolled of my tongue in disgust. "You may have Alice fooled by this shit you're spewing about trying to get forgiveness and righting your wrongs but not me. It killed me when you left." He turned his head away. I grabbed his chin and turned his face back in my direction. "Look at me. You left me sitting on a bench. In the fucking park. DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW FUCKED UP THAT IS?"

My eyes were burning from the tears soon to follow my tirade. He nodded his head in silent agreement before I continued.

"I was mentally fucked up after that for months. I sat in my room and stared at the walls instead of sleeping or eating or doing anything normal for that fucking matter. I was an insomniac because of how fucked up you left me. And do you want to know what the worst part of all of it was?" He stayed silent as he looked away again. "LOOK AT ME DAMMIT!" I yelled into his face as I grab his chin and yank back to face me. "The worst part of all of this was watching your sister," I jabbed my finger towards Alice, "that girl right there, fall apart. I watched her deteriorate right in front of my eyes because her big brother," I jabbed my finger into his chest and pushed him back a little, "her idol… left her behind and wouldn't speak to her. She was clinically depressed because of you," I hissed, jabbing my finger into his chest once more for emphasis.

"And what do you have to say for it, Edward? Not a damn thing. I'm not sure if you're just delusional or if someone has been feeding you a ton of shit about retribution but it's not happening here. Not after you left us wading in the middle of the fucking river without so much as a paddle or even a stick. Why don't you take your 'sorry's to someone who gives a flying fuck because I sure don't. I have come to learn that you're nothing but full of shit, lies, and broken promises.

"I've come to learn that I can't trust you."

I turned around to Alice and saw the surprise written across her face in bold print. She was stunned that I had just gone off like that. Outbursts like that didn't come from me very often… as a matter of fact, I'm sure I'd never blown up like that.

I inhaled a long, deep breath and held it for a moment before exhaling. After a few more deep breaths I walked back over to the couch and sat down, closing my eyes.

The room was dead silent for the longest period of time before anyone even moved. Alice shifted in her spot on the couch to be closer to me. Afterwards the awkward silence continued for yet another agonizingly long period of time.

"Do you know where you're staying tonight Edward?" Alice said, breaking the silence.

"Um… I uh…" he was obviously still dumbfounded from my outburst. He was staring at a wall off to the side.

"Speak English dammit." I hissed. I was still worked up as though the deep breathing had done nothing to calm me down.

"Um, no. I don't know where I'm staying tonight. I kind of just came here without a plan." He ran his hand through his disheveled hair and cracked his knuckles in frustration just as he had all those years ago. Chicago hadn't changed his habits. At all.

The awkward silence was back as I stared daggers at the side of his face.

"Well… you can stay here tonight," Alice said after clearing her throat.

I broke my chain of daggers as my head whipped to her direction.

"What?" I hissed.

"He's staying here tonight."

"Why?" I questioned, looking at him again. "Why don't you kick him the fuck out where he needs to be?" My tone was extremely bitter as I saw the sheepish expression he had on.

"Bella, I know that you are obviously pissed right now, and you rightfully should be. But he is still my brother. I can't have him out in the cold if I can let him sleep right here."

"I don't see why not," I reply indignantly.

"Bella! Stop acting like this. I completely understand how you feel and I agree with everything you said. But like I already said, he's my brother. He fucked me over big time when he left but that doesn't mean I don't love him anymore." She leaned in closer, "and I know you still love him too," she whispered in my ear. "So don't make him sleep in his car or something like that and catch pneumonia."

I turned my head in the other direction, not wanting to admit she was right. I folded my arms over my chest in stubborn silence.

"Fine, Alice. You do what you want. If you want to let him into your home and fuck shit up again, then by all means, go ahead. But I'm not going to sit here and watch you self-destruct when he leaves again." I got up to gather my things and walked towards the door. I stopped right in front of him and he still wasn't looking at me. I was as close as I could get without touching him. "He fucked up my head once when he left the first time. I'll be damned if I let it happen again." With that I brushed past him and unlocked the door.

The tears began as soon as I was in the hallway with the doors closed behind me but I didn't stop until I got to my car. I sat in the driver's seat and stared out into the rain for a moment while the tears streamed down my face silently. After a few moments, I started the car and began my way to who knows where. As I began sobbing I had to pull over into an empty parking lot. The sobs wracked through my body as I wrapped my arms around myself. I had to hold myself together after what just happened.

Hell. I don't even know what just happened.

A/N: Well would you look at this! I actually posted two chapters in the same week! I've been feeling really bad that I have so much time to read Fanfic but never anytime to write it that i whipped out a few chapters of this story during my winter break. Thanks again to those readers who are still here and anyone new who may have tagged along. Also a BIG thanks to my beta Princess Moon Shadow. Don't forget just how much I love hearing what you guys think... so review please. It makes my day in ways you don't understand.