He's back again! Still working on his little solo chapter but it's proving difficult to keep up with my work, kids, life in general... You all know what it's like! Now that the kids are back at school, I thought it would be easier but alas, it's not.

I'm glad that you're all enjoying this story.

Thanks Mi, you're the jelly to my beans.

I don't own Twilight.

As soon as I wake, the smell of bacon and eggs cooking, assaults my senses and my stomach grumbles loudly with hunger. I sit up warily and eye the bottle of painkillers on the side. Edward has left a glass of water, so I pop the cap off, swallow two tablets and take a long drink. My whole face hurts and it feels stiff as I try and move my jaw. I quickly run my fingers through my hair as I hear footsteps approach, the door swings open and I feel my eyebrows raise in surprise as I look at Alice.

"Oh, Bella." Her voice is soft and cracks slightly at the end, she's obviously been crying as her eyes look red and puffy.

"Hey, where's Edward?" The question pops out before I can stop myself and Rose appears in the doorway behind Alice.

"Oh, you're awake." Rose looks really annoyed and I frown at her in confusion.

"What's going on?"

They both come in and sit on my bed, Alice gathers my hands up in hers and starts to stroke my knuckles.

"Bella, we have spent our lives together and we've never been very far away from each other but since we moved here." Alice pauses and squeezes my hand, she looks away and her eyes twinkle with unshed tears when she returns her gaze to me.

"I found Jasper, who is my soul mate. Rose has found Emmett and we've all started new careers. Regardless of all these ridiculously lame excuses, we haven't been here for you and by the sounds of things, you've been through more than we realised."

I gently break her hold and pick at a loose thread on my blanket as she speaks.

"I get that you two have been busy, I know that I can come to you but I've been okay. I have Edward and even though it's something that may not even work. I really like him."

"Look at your face, Bella. Then tell me that you've been coping." Rose's voice snaps across my thoughts, I would've snarked back but I know that when she's worried or upset she comes off as a bitch, I try not to take it personally, instead I take a deep breath.

"That wasn't something that anyone could've foreseen and I was lucky. I don't expect you guys to be my parents or babysitters."

"No, we are your friends and we've not been very good ones recently." Rose's voice is still sharp but it softens slightly as she leans over and squeezes my hand. I squeeze back and smile.

"I have been missing you guys."

"We need to make sure that we make time for us, we are like a family unit and we shouldn't forget that." Alice smiles and gently moves a piece of hair away from my face.

"Oh and Edward has gone home, we thanked him for you and told him that he can come over later, but we want to have you to ourselves for the morning."

"How bad is my face?" I ask to steer the conversation away from Edward and I kind of want to know. My tummy drops a little when I realise that he's not here, but despite that, I want to catch up with my friends. I think I need a new perspective.

After I've studied my face, which really wasn't as bad as I expected, we sit down and have breakfast.

They both have a lot to tell me and it's nice hearing about it. When Alice finishes up by telling me about work and how well she's doing, Rose turns her head and our eyes connect, she looks thoughtful and I lift a brow in question.

"Bella, Emmett has told me a bit about Edward and it sounds like he had it quite rough as a kid. Have you two spoken about that?"

I nod my head as I remember Edward's expression as he told me about his Mom.

"He told me about his Mom."

Alice turns to me, no surprise on her face, so she must've known too.

"Do you think he can change?"

I sigh loudly.

"I think he already has, he's promised exclusivity and I'm not under the impression that this is going to be easy, but it's worth it."

"If there is anyone in the world that could tame a pussy hound like Edward, it's you Bella." Alice starts laughing and I find myself grinning at her words. I really hope she's right.

"You might want to call Charlie." Rose suddenly looks sheepish and she starts fiddling with her bracelet.

I sit up in shock and annoyance.

"You told my Dad? Oh crap! Why did you do that?"

"Because I was worried, we both were. Edward has cleared you a vacation for next week so you can go and see Charlie and have a break. I don't think you should be here at the moment." Alice's eyes glaze over with tears again as she squeezes my hand.

I nod my head because in reality I'd love to see my Dad, he always has a straight forward response to everything and I value his opinion more than anyone's, including my own at times.

"I'm going to pack your bag and Edward has offered to drive you to Forks, I can take you if you don't feel comfortable with that." Rose pauses and glances sideways at me.

"No, that sounds fine."

Alice pulls at my arm.

"Come and have some breakfast, we've made enough to feed the population of Forks."

After we've eaten and cleared away, I help Rose with the last of my packing and it's not long before we hear a knock at the door. Rose walks out of my room and leaves me on my own.

I turn and see Edwatd in my doorway and I smile gently, it hurts but I can't help it. He looks so handsome and that safe feeling washes over me. He strides over to me and wraps his arms around me. I fall into his embrace and breath in his familiar smell.

"How are you feeling?" He pulls back and looks down at me.

"Better than I expected. You don't have to drive me to Forks."

"I know, but I want to." He brushes his fingertips gently over my sore face, warmth spreads over my cheeks from his touch.

"Thank you."

"Don't worry about work either, I've told my father about the situation and he thinks it's a great idea."

I nod and bury my face back into his chest. We stand like that for a while, we finally break away when we hear the girls enter my room.

"You all packed Bella?"

I look over at Alice and nod, I try to stop the tears that suddenly threaten to spill down my cheeks. I just feel overwhelmed, I want to see Charlie, but I'll miss being here. I glance round my room and grab up my bag. Edward quickly and gently takes it from me, he nods at the girls and walks out of my room. He turns as he gets to the door.

"I'll take this down to the car and wait for you there."

I watch as he leaves and turn to Rose and Alice.

"I love you both, thank you for everything."

They both hug me and we squeeze tightly, a promise of support and love flows between us.

"We love you too, sorry for not being here enough for you. I really hope you have a relaxing break. Don't go and do all Charlie's housework, he's got Sue for that."

I laugh at Rose and her blunt delivery, Charlie still lives like a bachelor, despite his new relationship. She knows that I wouldn't ever leave without helping.

They both wave from the apartment door as I make my way down the stairs and towards Edward.

I feel the butterflies in my tummy as I descend the steps, when I open the door and see him leaning against his gorgeous car with his wayfarer sunglasses on, I gulp back the drool gathering in my mouth.

The thought of spending a lot of alone time with him is both nerve wracking and exciting.

He smiles and nods, before opening the door for me.

"Your carriage awaits m'lady." He bows and I laugh as I get in and strap up.

I watch as he slides in and marvel to myself about how graceful and gorgeous he really is. We slip into traffic and can feel myself getting sleepy, I watch out of the window as we leave Seattle and head towards Forks.

"I'm truly sorry for what happened with James, I have a feeling it's my fault."

I snap my head back to look at him in confusion, his eyes look over at me before returning to the road.

"How could that have been your fault?"

"Me and James have a lot of history, I think he saw you as a way to get to me."

"Do you think they'll catch him?" I keep my eyes on his side profile as I wait for his reply. The tension shows in his jaw.

"I don't know, he's wanted for a lot more than assault. He's wanted for countless rapes, fraud, money laundering and drug charges. They've got enough evidence now to arrest him and put him away for a really long time."

"How did they get more evidence?"

"They went to his bar with a warrant and found videos on his computer as well as a lot of drugs and drug money and his accounts."

"Videos?" The word chokes out and I almost don't want to know what was on them.

"Of him raping and abusing women. They are trying to find the women but some are missing, they are treating them as possible homicides."

"Wow, I wouldn't have guessed. Well, until he did what he did." I feel a shiver go through me, I was so close to going through more than I could've imagined. That could've been me.

"Hey, it's going to be okay. They will find him, eventually. I won't let him get his hands on you again." Menace laces each word.

"I'm sure you have better things to do than look after me."

"I want to do this Bella. I care about you." He turns to look at me, a frown on his face. I find myself captured by his eyes and the sincerity in them.

James really is dangerous and the realisation, of how lucky I am hits me as I stare out of the window. Large drops of rain beat at it and I watch as they slowly trail down to the bottom. I'm really glad to see the back of Seattle, the thought of being with my Dad is comforting and the normality that will come with it is suddenly very appealing.

I feel my eyelids getting heavy as Edward blasts the heaters on to take the chill out of the air.

"Have some rest, it's going to take a while."

I nod my head in understanding and wrap my jacket around myself a little tighter.