Thank you all again for the amazing feedback you give me. You all seriously are amazing! Thank you for sticking with me through this and not getting too angry with me!

I hope that you like this chapter… There's a bit of action here… And an ending that promises a bit of a happier ending in the next chapter. Charlie is a bit OOC here… But it was the only way he could really fit in this story and well… I like to think that this is the Charlie that was always there… I have a bit of a soft spot for him really.

Oh, and the highlight: Jake is going to get what's coming to him.

You Found Me
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight

Chapter Nineteen

Feel it falling off like clothing
Taste it rolling on your tongue
See the lights above you glowing
Oh and breathe them deep into your lungs

It was always simple, not hidden hard
You've been pulling at the strings playing puppeteer for kings
And you've had enough

But the search ends here
Where the night is totally clear
And your heart is fierce
So now you finally know that you control where you go
You can steer

So hold this feeling like a newborn
All the freedom surging through your veins
You have opened up a new door
So bring on the wind, fire and rain

It was always simple, not hidden hard
You've been played at a game called remembering your name
And you stuffed it up

But the search ends here
Where the night is totally clear
And your heart is fierce
So now you finally know that you control where you go
You can steer

Cause you've been listening for answers
But the city screams and all your dreams go unheard

But the search ends here
Where the night is totally clear
And your heart is fierce
So now you finally know that you control where you go
You can steer
Get out of the box and step into the clear
Cause now you finally know you can steer

Missy Higgins, "Steer"

__________

His eyes landed on the reflection of himself in the mirror and he softly rubbed his hand against the still tender flesh of his jaw. The swelling had gone down immensely but the injury was still not much better than it had been only five days ago, in fact, the hideous red color it had started as merely morphed into a bluish purple splotch that his agent and stylist had been furious over. He couldn't have really cared much what they thought though, for him the bruise served as a reminder of the fight that he had walked away from though it nearly killed him to do so. He had wanted nothing more than to take his own fist and swing wildly at the man who had initiated the dispute, but because he knew it was the right thing to do, not only for himself but for Bella as well, he just shook his head at the brute and dismissed him as though he were nothing but gum on the soles of his brand new shoes.

Perhaps that was exactly what Jacob Black was to Edward Cullen: the pesky gum that he ruined his new trainers with as he walked along Slone Street. Jacob was stuck to him and would be for as long as he would love Bella, which he knew, now more than ever, would be forever. Jacob would follow them, follow him, like a ghost from the past unwilling or unable to cross over, to let go, to move on. It was a price he knew he had to pay and one that he would pay willingly: the price of never having met Bella would have been much more unbearable than the pain that he felt now. His life had been altered, though he felt it was for the best, that he was a better person because of it.

"How does it feel?"

Edward dropped his hand from his jaw ceasing the inspection and willed the thoughts of Jacob Black and Bella Swan to leave his mind and to let him find peace for a little while; at least, until the lights went off and he was alone in his bedroom, in his bed, with the memories that he had created with her and had not been able to defile.

He turned to his best friend who was leaning against the white molding of the door frame while his eyes were fixed intently on him, or maybe the bruise, Edward wasn't quite sure. "It's better than it was before," he stated honestly. "Where's my sister?"

Jasper's lips pulled into a small smile. "In the living room… I think Hudson's probably mauling her by now."

"Yeah… Poor dog hasn't had much female attention lately."

"Has Jane not been around?"

Edward shrugged his shoulders as the two men fell into step, making their way to the front of the flat. "We chat… She met some bloke at a pub the other night and has been spending quite a lot of time with him."

"This is a good thing?"

Jasper watched her friend closely. Though he knew what the answer would be, he had hoped, deep down, that Edward would surprise him, that he would somehow have found a way to move on from Bella Black and been jealous as fuck that Jane was spending time with someone else. He knew however, that it was a childish fantasy, founded mainly on the premise that he hated to see his best friend in so much pain and wanted nothing more than for the smile to be returned.

He knew she was a good woman, that she had meant Edward no harm, that she hadn't anticipated breaking him so thoroughly, but it didn't help that regardless, she had. The past two weeks had been nearly unbearable as his friend, who was on the verge of being put back together, or at least, close enough to functioning, lost all control once again at the thought that she might never be alive in the world. Jasper had never prayed so hard for someone to live, and, neither had Alice. They both knew that if Bella had died, Edward would have likely followed closely behind her. It would have been a loss that neither would have been prepared for.

Though Edward's character might have been in question before Bella had entered his life, Jasper knew without a doubt that he was a better man since her. Still, amongst it all, when he had come home with the telltale signs of a bar fight, he had been surprised to learn that it had actually taken place in the hospital, at the hands of the man Bella was married to, and Edward, amongst all the pain he felt and the resentment towards the bloke, had walked away. It was something Jasper admired in him; he knew that it hadn't been an easy feat. What he did find crazy however, was his apparent lack of interest in letting the man pay for what he had done.

"What happened?!" Alice shrieked as she watched her brother walk into the room. Jasper's head jerked and saw the large red splotch on the left side of Edward's jaw as well as the small trail of dried blood that seemed to form at his nostril and trail down his chin.

"Just a minor altercation," he responded as he shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly as though it was something that happened every day.

"Who the hell did that?"

Edward seemed to stall for a moment, as though he was afraid to tell the truth. "Jacob Black."

They stood there, open mouthed and amazed. "What?"

"He tried to fucking do business with me while in the god damn waiting room."

"Did you punch him back?" Alice questioned, rocking excitedly on her heels. "Please tell me you threw in a good punch for everything."

Edward just shook his head. "If I had punched him… Nothing good would have come of it."

"So at least tell me you are going to press charges."Jasper continued to inspect the surface of Edward's skin. The punch had been with quite a deal of force, that much was obvious, and he knew that it would be at least a month before the bruising would finally vanish. They had been scheduled for a photo shoot in three days; Edward would never be able to photograph with that on his jaw.

"I can't do that either Jasper… This has been hard enough on her as it is… I don't want to put her through any more undue stress. After seeing him react to me the way he has… I would fear for her and her well being if he ever truly found out why I was there. It's better this way; at least then she'll be safe."

"It's a very good thing… That she's found someone," Edward replied, a small smile on his lips, his voice pulling Jasper from his own thoughts. "Jane should be happy and she should be around someone who can make her happy… I told her from the start that I could never be that person."

"You never even tried."

"It doesn't matter and as weak as this is going to make me sound, I gave my heart away and I'll never get it back… I don't want it back. It's Bella's to keep and though she isn't with me, I know, more than ever, that I still have hers; I know that I will always have hers."

"I don't know how that's possible."

Edward sighed and looked down at his hands before turning to face Jasper one more time. "Rose said that she was driving home from the edge when the accident happened."

"That doesn't prove anything."

"That's where you're wrong. We were there Jazz and it was the one place where we could be together and not hide… The memories there…"

"How do you know she wasn't saying goodbye?"

"I just do," he replied truthfully.

"Poor girl." Edward lifted his eyebrows in confusion. "Jane… The tabloids are going to have a field day if they spot her with whoever this bloke is. The public believes that you two are together. They will rip her apart."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there. We've never confirmed anything other than being good friends and it was their fault for ever insisting otherwise. She's happy now, that's all that matters."

"And what about you?" Jasper added, placing his hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Bella's alive and I know, somehow, that she still loves me… And really, that's all that matters to me."

__________

Leah knew that Bella wasn't living at Jacob's townhouse anymore, she had come across that information in a rather hostile manner. Jacob had been home when she knocked, and because she expected him to be at work, she was startled and he had merely sneered at her.

"If you're planning on wrecking my marriage you're too late," he snapped and she took a step back down to the sidewalk.

"What?"

"Bella is gone. She left."

"Where?"

"Probably with those fucking idiots I work with."

He didn't give her another chance to speak and instead slammed the door. If she had been holding onto the railing, she knew she probably would have been able to feel the vibration from the action.

She had never been to the McCarty home before, though she knew exactly where it was and as she walked along the Embankment, she could feel her heart in her chest. She wasn't sure it was the right thing to do anymore either. It was obvious that Bella was no longer under Jake's spell, and she had very obviously left him. Would it really serve a purpose to tell her that he had been having an affair all along?

She was at the flat before she had the chance to decide and swallowing her pride, she pressed the buzzer, knowing full well, that even though she had left Jake, Bella still deserved the truth.

__________

"I can't believe you're here!" Bella smiled as they took seats in the living room. Rose had gone out to give them privacy leaving them completely alone in the large penthouse flat that offered the best view of the Thames that Leah had ever seen in a London home. "I hope you didn't come because of the accident."

Leah bit her lip and shook her head, "Bella… That's not it… I came back because there was something I had to tell you and as easy as it would have been to do this on the phone… You deserve better than that."

Bella's eyebrows pulled together in confusion, "What is it?"

Leah didn't know where to start so she started from the beginning: how she had met Jacob in New York and everything that she was going through with Sam and had gone through with Sam. She told her about how he had never led her to believe that he was married, even after that first kiss and it wasn't until she was already falling for him that she learned about the wife that existed back in London. She watched Bella's face, which remained stoic the entire time, and then told her about Rome and how they had spent the night together and finally she told her about the night she and Jacob had finally had sex and how terrible she felt the next day and how she was ashamed of herself though Jacob had insisted that he was leaving his wife.

"And then… I don't know, I started spending time with you when we were in France and I saw how absolutely wonderful you were and I knew that I had to do something to make it right…"

Bella continued to sit there, staring at the couch that Leah was sitting on, her mind doing flips as she tried to sort everything out. It was impossible though. She had spent so many months guilty and sick over what she had done and yet Jake was doing the exact same thing. And, though she wanted to be furious with Leah, she knew that she couldn't because she herself knew now how manipulative Jacob could be. Hindsight was 20/20. Both women had made terrible choices and choices that Bella knew would haunt them for the rest of their lives.

"And when I met the man and I saw how much he loved you I felt even worse… I couldn't help but wonder if I had swallowed my own pride and just told you from the beginning, that you could have been happy with him by now."

"What?" She snapped out of her thoughts and glanced once more at Leah who had tears streaming down her face. "What man?"

"I never caught his name," she choked out. "But I saw the picture of the two of you… And he loves you and though I had never heard a word about him, I saw the look on your face in the picture and you love him too."

"Edward…" she breathed, everything came back to Edward.

Leah however just nodded. "I'm a terrible person Bella and I've ruined everything."

Bella however just shook her head. "I think we've both managed to ruin everything… You can't be the only one held responsible."

"I would understand completely if you never forgave me."

Bella just shrugged, "I think I'm just angry that it took you so long to tell me but I think I also know that it's better that I hear it now, after the fact, now that I've separated myself from him… I think, if I had known about this before the accident, I'm not sure I would have believed it."

"How can you say that?"

"Because I know me and I know how I was before…"

"And how are you now?"

"I'm trying to figure that out."

__________

He could hear the light London rain as it pattered against the window, washing away the grime of the day and cleaning the city. There had been so many changes in the past week that he was still trying to wrap his head around it. From his seat in the kitchen, he could hear the soft laughter of his wife and best friend as they talked privately amongst themselves in the other room and he felt content knowing they were both safe.

When Bella was released from the hospital, Emmett had made sure that all her belongings were taken from the Notting Hill townhouse and placed in the home that he shared with Rose. There would have been no reason for her to ever go back, and he knew that it was the right thing to do under the knowledge that she had told Jacob that she wanted a divorce. It would have been a setback if she had gone back and he could still recall with perfect memory the way Jacob had glared at him, fists clenched, as he watched him pack up Bella's belongings.

They had no idea how long she would stay but it wasn't an issue for them. They would have gladly taken her in forever if that was what she needed. There was a sense of relief between them that she was no longer under Jacobs roof, that she would no longer be put through the hell he was subjecting her to, something they saw more clearly now than ever before. She was finally on the right track, and Emmett couldn't help but hope, that the right track involved Edward coming back into their lives again.

Though he had spent a great deal of time angry with the man, under, of course, false pretenses, he knew that his disappointment stemmed from a feeling of betrayal. Though they never intended to grow so close, and when Edward had seemed to cut off all connection between them, it had hurt him more than he wanted to admit. He didn't have a large family anymore, at least, not in London. When he took the job at AEG, both Rose and himself knew that it would mean leaving everything behind so their family became the friends that they had made her and the two of them that ended up meaning the most to them had been Edward and Bella and during those hard months, even Bella seemed to distance herself. The affair had caused pain for everyone involved, even pain for those who it hadn't intended to hurt.

Seeing him every day in that hospital though, sparked a hope in Emmett that he hadn't felt in a long while. The anguish, the pain that he knew Edward was feeling was enough to give him something to cling onto. Everything he needed to know from him seemed to be said: the fact that he still loved her more than anything else, the fact that even the music, the record contract, all of it, didn't seem to mean as much to him without her there with him, and most importantly, that Jane was merely nothing more than a very good friend. He knew, for the first time, that even among all the pain, if they could find a way back to each other, they would be okay, that they could survive it and, possibly, come out stronger in the end because of it.

Emmett held the small phone in his hands, every now and then playing the video that his wife had managed to capture and wondering all the while what he could really do with it. The image was as clear as day: Jacob's face and his fist as it connected with great force at the very obvious face of Edward Cullen. AEG was already suspicious about Jacob's role in the hospital showdown, though it seemed everyone else was still baffled as to what Edward was actually doing there to begin with. He knew what he had to do with it, but he also knew that it would cause problems not only for him, but for everyone involved.

Drama was not something that Emmett McCarty thrived on. In fact, it had been one of the things that had kept him from his wife for two years before finally giving into her. With perfect clarity, he could recall the day he first laid eyes on her. He had come home from his first year of college to find his younger sister Katie on the couch with the blonde bombshell as they gossiped about boys and other girls from their school. It was a completely superficial assessment of the girl, but his experience with college girls even had told him that the beautiful ones often came with baggage and Emmett wanted nothing to do with that. Never in his life had he been happier to discover that looks were deceiving.

He knew then exactly what he had to do, but he also knew that Edward had the right to know because as soon as this came out, everything else would be sure to follow.

__________

"Are you planning on telling him that you are going back to Washington?"

Bella sighed and looked down at her cast, tracing her finger over the hard plaster as she shook her head, "I think it's best if I just leave. He knows I'm okay and I just…" Her voice trailed off as she looked up and out the window at the clouds that covered the city like a dark blanket.

"Bella he still loves you."

"I know that, I just don't think that I can give him what he needs, if he even wanted me back."

"That's bullshit."

"No it's not…" she replied before taking a deep breath. "How can I give him anything when I don't have anything left to give right now? I've put him through enough and the last thing he needs is for me to continue holding him back."

"And you truly think that is exactly what you would be doing to him?" Rose questioned, glancing down at Aiden who was still sleeping peacefully in her arms.

"It is."

"You know he was there… every fucking day at the hospital because of you, because he loved you. I don't think he cares about anything else now and you're not with Jacob anymore, you are free to be with him and you're running away… Don't run away from true love Bella… Don't run away from happiness now that you are so close to actually having it."

Bella knew that Rose would never understand where she was right now. Yes, she knew she was free from Jacob and immensely happy because of that, but there were still so many problems that she had yet to work out and she couldn't bring Edward into that. Though only he knew of the true pain she had been though in the past, his life was much too demanding of him, and she had managed to hurt him in more ways than she even wanted to admit and knew deep down that those scars could never be fixed. She needed to go home, to mend things there, to sort her own life out, to be happy alone before she could ever be happy with anyone else.

"Charlie is expecting me back… It's for the best."

"And what about us? What about Emmet and I and Aiden?" The tears were pricking her eyes as she raised her voice, though not enough to wake the child still sleeping. "How can Aiden grow up and never know his Aunt Bella?"

"I'm not leaving you."

"If you leave you'll never come back here. You're our family Bell…" The air grew silent between them, neither knowing what to say or how to say it. "If you leave, everything here falls apart."

"Don't say that. You and Emmett are strong and you'll be fine, more than fine. And we can talk on the phone Rose… And maybe, when things are better, I'll come visit. I'm not leaving you, I'm leaving London and the memories that it holds. It's too painful to be here."

"So call him… Let him be there for you because he wants to be… Let him help you."

Bella continued to shake her head. "I can't do that to him and you know that Rose. I just can't. He deserves so much more than I have to give and we both know that."

"Regardless of what you think he deserves, he wants you, he's only ever wanted you and by running off, you are being selfish and hurting him more than I think you even know."

__________

Edward sat on the stool and held the guitar close to his body. It had been a while since he had picked it up but with Bella being okay, the rest of the band decided that it was time to get back to work. Still, it didn't make things easy on him and knowing that all he wanted to do was call her, to see her, anything, anything; she was still eating him up inside, playing games with his emotions, and she didn't even know it.

"You look like a total tool, you know that right?" Edward smiled when he looked up to see Emmett standing in front of him, a big grin plastered on his face.

"Comes with the guitar."

"The bruise doesn't help."

"What brings you here Em?" he asked, putting the guitar back down and meeting his friend halfway.

"I needed to talk to you… about the hospital."

"Somewhere private perhaps?"

__________

She knew that she was probably making a mistake, that leaving London wasn't the answer to all her prayers, but she also knew that she couldn't impose on Rose and Emmett and she wasn't ready to go to Edward. After a long phone conversation with Charlie, he had managed to convince her that she should come home and, because it seemed like the only viable option, she accepted and bought the first plane ticket home. The distance, she hoped, would help her put things into perspective.

"Call me when you land in Seattle, I don't care what time it is here," Rose said, wrapping her arms around Bella as she hugged her tightly.

"I will… Tell Emmett I love him."

"I will."

They didn't say goodbye, Rose had made her promise not to because she didn't want to believe that this could be the last time that they ever saw each other, the last time that there were in the same city, living together. Bella hadn't known what to tell her exactly. She didn't know where she would be in three days let alone three months. She wanted to believe that she would be healthy enough to come back, to find Edward and beg for him to find it in his heart to forgive her, to take her back, but she knew that it was a dream that would most likely never come true.

As she took her seat, she closed her eyes and leaned her head against the back of it. It would be a long flight, but she would use it productively to find a way to start sorting through the mess that had become her life and to try to figure out if she could ever truly be happy again.

__________

They sat across from each other at a small café. They had been there before, multiple times actually, long before the drama between their family had ensued, long before Bella and Edward had gone their separate ways, but this time it felt different, and both men knew it was different, though for entirely different reasons. Edward still felt his guilt at not having kept in touch with the man before him after everything had crashed down at his feet and Emmett knew that there were a great deal of things he had to tell Edward and he wasn't quite sure where to start.

"How is she?" Edward finally managed to ask, the fingers of his right hand weaving through the strands of his hair as he pulled it back forcefully. It was an unconscious action that happened nearly every time he spoke about Bella.

Emmett's eyes drifted to the table.

"What is it?"

"She's gone back to Washington."

Edward felt his heart drop to his stomach and the world seemed to close in on him. How had no one told him? How could she not have told him? He had the right to know that she was leaving, he had the right to say goodbye and to hold her one last time, he had the right to tell her that she was making a mistake and that she should just come home with him, that they could make a life together, that they could be happy again.

"When?"

"Her flight left a few hours ago."

"How could you not tell me?"

"She didn't want you to know… She thought it would be easier."

"Easier!" he shouted. "Easier than what?"

Emmett just shook his head, "I don't know."

"Why didn't you tell me?" His hurt was morphing into anger as the moments passed. He knew that it wasn't Emmett's fault but he still felt slightly betrayed that he hadn't told him.

"I don't know." Emmett hung his head. "I'm sorry."

Edward's jaw was set tightly, and though he didn't know he was doing it, he couldn't stop clenching his fists. He wasn't angry at Emmett, not really, he was angrier with Bella and her stupid notion that she knew what was best for him. She didn't know because if she did, she never would have allowed him to give up on her regardless of the situation. Though he knew walking away was the right thing to do, it was the thing he knew he didn't want to do, the thing he knew was the worst thing to do. And because of this, he struggled with anger towards her and love towards her and didn't know what was the most dominant anymore.

"It's not your fault," he managed to speak through clenched teeth.

"I should have told you."

After another long pause Emmett knew there were other things Edward had a right to know, things that they had been keeping from him.

"She left Jake."

Edward's head shot up, "what?"

"In the hospital… only a few days after she really gained consciousness she told him that she didn't want to be with him and that she wanted a divorce."

His heart swelled and for a moment, Edward wondered if he was having an out of body experience. Everything had just changed with those three words, she left Jacob. But the feeling didn't last long as he realized that though she had left her husband, she had not sought him out to tell him that they could be together now. His wishes had come true but there was one big difference: she didn't seem to want him anymore.

"Why didn't she tell me Em?" he said softly, his hand once again fisting his hair as he pulled on it roughly.

"She said that you were better off without her… That she still had things to figure out and she couldn't let you do that for her."

"Did she know about the affair?"

Emmett furrowed his brow, "what affair?"

"Jacob's affair."

__________

She didn't want to be in the house; especially knowing that Bella wasn't there and Emmett was out to lunch with Edward discussing important information that was pertinent to the hospital situation. So instead, she decided to enjoy the fact that it wasn't raining in London and take Aiden out for a stroll and possibly drown her own feelings out with a bit of shopping.

This was how Rose found herself pushing the pram down Floral Street in Covet Garden, all alone for the first time in three years, when her phone rang.

"Hey monkey," she smiled, hearing her husband's voice, knowing that he was all she really had left in London and the only person she really wanted to see in that moment. But as she listened to him talk, the urgency in his voice and the tremble of his tenor, she knew that something was wrong.

"I'm nearly there… I'll be there in a few minutes."

__________

When she walked into the café, she could barely make out the mess of hair that stuck up in the back corner and knew immediately that it was Edward. The two men were deep in conversation and she could feel her body tighten knowing exactly what it was.

"Hi," she said meekly, pushing the pram against the table and taking the empty seat next to her husband.

"Did Bella tell you about Leah and Jacob?" Emmett asked after kissing her cheek.

"No…"

"Wasn't Leah just at the flat a few days ago?"

"Yes… But I left with Aiden to give them privacy but when I came home Leah was gone and Bella seemed fine," she replied. "Why? What happened?"

"Leah had an affair with Jacob around the same time that Bella and I were together."

Rose turned to look at her husband after Edward had finished speaking but before she could say anything, he held his hand up. "I knew that something was going on, or at least, I suspected something was going on… But I never said anything for lack of proof."

"Emmett McCarty!" Rose all but shouted. "How could you keep this from me? From Edward? From Bella?!"

"Like I said," he stated calmly, "I didn't have any actual proof that something was happening… I couldn't just go around accusing him and what if nothing was going on, don't you know what that would have done to her?! We already know how guilty she felt the whole time, the last thing we needed was another thing to make it even worse."

"I hate that mother fucker," Edward said softly under his breath. "Why couldn't he have just let her go?"

"Because Jacob isn't like that," Rose replied, reaching across the table and placing her hand on top of his.

After another long pause in the conversation Edward had the strength to look up again. "Do you think… maybe… she was worse off than we had even imagined?"

Rose just nodded her head, not needing words to convey the truth that she had discovered only when Bella had finally opened up about everything: about the name calling, the harsh grabs the belittling. She had known that it wasn't healthy, but she was appalled that it was worse than even she could have imagined.

"That's kind of why I had originally wanted to see you Ed," Emmett sighed. "Rose well… She managed to capture everything on her phone." He paused to lean over to kiss the side of his wife's head. "How she managed to think so quickly will always surprise and amaze me… But the evidence is there and it would no doubt get Jake fired… Would you be willing to go through with it?"

"Why didn't you just show your boss?"

"Because in doing this, there might be a lot of questioning as to why you were truly there… I needed to know if you would be willing to come out about your relationship with Bella if need be."

Edward just nodded. "I'm not ashamed about it. I love her and if she truly is done with him and he can't hurt her again, I see no reason to not do something about it."

"I had hoped that was what you were going to say."

__________

Charlie had been more than supportive as soon as she stepped off that plane and into his waiting arms. In fact, they stood there, her crying while he squeezed her and held her tightly for a good ten minutes before they pulled away and he proceeded to help her bring her things to the cruiser. To say she was surprised by his welcoming would have been an understatement, but it had also been exactly what she needed and she wasn't about to question it.

The four hour drive however had been awkward and tense, though she also assumed that it was because of her own doing. All she had told him on the phone was that things weren't working out for her in London, that her marriage had fallen apart and that she was divorcing Jake because she couldn't stand to be that unhappy anymore. He had barely said anything other than if she wanted, she would always have her bedroom in his home and he would be more than happy for her to come back home and live with him until she was ready to start over again.

Thousands of miles away, she could still hear the love in his voice and wished that she had heard it before.

Everything in the house was exactly the same as she had remembered it. The same couch, in the same place and the same television which she suspected was still on the same channel it always was on. This was a constant in her life, and it always had been. Charlie never changed, he was fine with the status quo and there was something comforting in that. But as she looked at the photos on the wall, she was able to see a very clear difference. There were no photos of her and Jacob, Charlie had taken those down and replaced them with the ones that she had sent him of her and Rose and Emmett as well as a few framed photos of when she was a child.

She knew then that maybe Charlie was capable of change.

__________

Jacob was in his office when the boss had called him in. Though his work had suffered slightly since Bella had left, he wasn't afraid that his job was in jeopardy. They had even seemed to overlook the fact that Edward Cullen and his stupid band were probably never going to agree to give AEG the contract.

What he didn't expect however, as he entered the top floor office, was for the computer to be on and an image of his fist hitting that damn musicians to be playing.

"I can explain," he said quickly as his eyes darted to his boss' angry face who merely lifted his left eyebrow before studying the footage once again. "He provoked me."

"I'm sure," Mr. Cooper responded dryly, "which explains why he walked away?"

"Of course he walked away! This was a set up!"

"Two weeks later and he hasn't pressed charges and you assume this is a set up? If it was a set up wouldn't he have pressed charges from the start?"

Words were swimming around in Jacob's mind as he tried to come up with a plausible explanation, but it seemed that nothing was coming to mind and he was only drawing a blank. He didn't know what to do anymore or what to say and for the first time, he knew that everything was slowly slipping through his fingertips: first Bella and now he was certain, his job.

"I…"

"You can imagine how this looks for us."

Jacob just nodded.

"I can't have my man in charge punching celebrities just because they," Cooper lifted his fingers in the air, motioning in air quotes, "provoked him."

"I'm sorry."

"There are two ways this can go… You can resign and apologize to the man and walk away quietly, or we can fire you… the choice really is yours and to be honest, you're getting off much easier than you should but because Edward Cullen refuses to press charges, we'd rather not let this get out in public."

"Why won't he press charges?"

He heard the footsteps as the person entered the room. "Because you're just not worth it."

Turning around, Jacob saw the man standing with Emmett and he could feel his rage boiling up within him once again. He knew then that it had been Emmett who had sold him out, just like it had been Emmett who had packed up his wife's belongings, and Emmett's wife who saw to it that Bella never answered her phone or came to the door when he went to see her and bring her back home.

"For what it's worth," he grumbled, hating that this was the only option that would cause him to come out unscathed, "I'm sorry."

Edward snorted his eyes bright with amusement. "I'm not. In fact, I'm rather thankful that you did what you did…" Emmett reached up and placed his hand on the musician's shoulder.

"Edward now's not the time."

"Now's the perfect time!" he shouted. "I couldn't be more thankful that you are the asshole you are and that your wife finally had the galls to stand up to you and leave you. You never deserved her. You never deserved what she did for you."

"What does Isabella have to do with this?"

"Bella has everything to do with this… Are you that dense?" Edward was still chuckling, knowing full well that Jacob would never touch him again. "Obviously you are because you would have recognized me and you would have known that Bella never loved you."

Jacob's eyes narrowed and in that moment he knew exactly what Edward was talking about. Edward had been with Bella at the party all those months ago, the man who danced with her and looked at her as though she was the world's most precious gift. The man whose hands were too low on her back, and whose eyes were filled with lust and adoration. He didn't know how he hadn't seen it sooner.

"You don't know what the fuck you're talking about," he managed to respond, his jaw clenched tightly.

"I know more about Bella then you could even hope to know… Thank you, by the way, for pushing her straight into my arms."

Jacob started to advance towards Edward but Emmett shielded him and dug his palms deep into his chest, effectively blocking him.

"Get out of my way," he snarled and Emmett just shook his head.

"I've seen enough!" The voice of Mr. Cooper rang through and before Jacob had a chance to say anything else, he felt the grasp of strong hands on his arms as they began to force him out the office and away from Edward Cullen and the life he had built at AEG.

"Oh, and Mr. Black… I'll be seeing to it that you never work in this industry again after this little display… I had believed that this could have been an amicable split but I fear my judgment of you was severely off."

"Is it too late to say, I told you so?"

Jacob heard the words come from the mouth of Edward Cullen and broke free from the grasp of his captors but just as he was about to lift his fist, he felt the swift knee to his groin before a punch to his nose and looking up through teary eyes, he saw Edward standing there, holding his hand and shaking his head.

"I should have punched you for punching me, but that's not what this is about. You deserved worse than that you know, but that was for hurting Bella," Edward said, before nodding at Mr. Cooper and stalking towards the elevator, Emmett in tow behind him.

__________

She looked at her father as he sat across from her holding one of her small hands between both of his own. The years, she knew, had taken a toll on him: the dark brown of his hair was scattered with silver strands that he joked made him look more distinguished, the deep lines on his forehead and the edges of his eyes seemed more prominent than the last time she had flown home to visit, and, though he covered it well, she could see that his body too was changing with age.

There had been a time when she had questioned his love for her as all daughters sometimes question their fathers, but as she looked into his eyes and at the way that he was gazing so intently at her, any fear that she might have had about his support was instantly expelled. She saw not the man who had spent so much of her teenage years avoiding love and compassion for fear of being hurt again, not the man who gruffly handed her pepper spray whenever she ventured into the city, and not the man who wanted her to marry his best friends son because he trusted him; for the first time she saw her father, the man who helped bring her into this world, and the man who, despite all his heartache, still found a way to look at his daughter who sparked the memories of the wife he had lost, and the man, who she knew, would love her in spite of of her many flaws. Her father's love was unconditional and she knew now, and wished she knew then, that he would love her regardless of what she chose to do.

"I'm sorry Bella," he finally said, breaking the silence that had fallen between them and as he went to pull his hands from hers, she stopped him, holding his hand as though her very life depended on it.

"For what?"

"For thinking I always knew what was best for you," he responded and watched as the tears filled his daughter's eyes. "All those years I pushed you into something I think I knew wasn't even right for you because it was what I wanted. I thought he was safe, I thought he would keep you safe… I just didn't want you to get hurt and that's exactly what happened."

"You couldn't have changed that."

He shrugged. "Maybe not... I just didn't want you to go through what I went through with your mother."

Bella closed her eyes and was flooded with images of Edward's face before she spoke, "I never loved him as much as you loved mom… I was never in any danger of being hurt by him."

Charlie's eyes softened. "Then who are you crying for?"

So Bella told him everything she could about Jacob and how he had been using the miscarriage as a weapon against her, and when she told him this she had to restrain him because she saw the look of anger flash across his eyes but there was no point in it because even she knew that Jacob wasn't here and there was nothing he could do about it anymore. So she changed the topic and told him how she had found love again and about Edward and how he made her feel and how happy she was when she was with him. She told him about how leaving him had nearly killed her and how it took losing him and nearly losing her life to really see the pain that Jacob had been causing her.

"So why are you here kid?" he asked, reaching across to wipe the tears from her eyes.

"Because I've hurt him and he needs someone who can really be there for him."

"And you can't be that person?"

"I don't even know who I am," she said softly.

"Doesn't sound like it to me Bells," he said quietly, his eyes watching his daughter as she looked up at him, her face confused by his words. "It sounds exactly like you know who you are and what you want…"

"How can you say that?"

"Because I know you… And I can see you… You think you don't deserve him but Bells… You do. If anyone deserves a happy ending it's you… And by the sound of things, so does he. You are in control of your own life, know that, it took me years to figure that out… Don't make the same mistakes that I did kid."

"What do you mean?"

He sighed and shook his head. "I spent years blaming your mother and everyone but the one person who really deserved it. I let the anger of her leaving consume me and refused to believe that I had anything to do with it. I knew she was unhappy but I guess I thought she'd get over it… I don't know but when she left… I just… " he paused for a minute and Bella nodded her head, not needing him to articulate it any differently, she knew what he was saying. "And because of that, I let so many things pass me by and I made some pretty shit decisions. I let you marry that piece of shit… I let you move thousands of miles away with him… And I lost touch with you… But then… I don't know…"

"You met someone," she smiled, wiping the last few tears from her eyes as she watched her father's eyes widen.

"I did and I realized that I couldn't keep letting outside forces drive my life… I have control over what happens to me and Bella… so do you."

__________

Okay guys! That's the end of this chapter… Only a few left… Two probably and an epilogue… I can't believe this is almost over…

Let me know what's on your mind and then come play on the forum! The girls on there are seriously amazing and really help me think through things! You girls are great!