Alright so here's a super long chapter for you all!!! READ AND REVIEW!!!

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Chapter 4

Dinner with his family

Bella's Point of View

God, what would Charlie do tonight? I mean, Alice invited me over to her house but… would it go well when I came back home? Who knows what Charlie would be like when he came home… Oh dear lord! I doubt he'll let this one slide.

Cleaning the house spotlessly when I came home, some strange thoughts crossed my mind. What would Edward's family think of me? And didn't Alice say that her father was a doctor? Damn it! I'm going to be in so much trouble tonight… What if I did something absolutely repulsing and they would reject me? It was the first time that someone invited me to their house and I didn't know what to do! DAMN IT! How am I going to get through with tonight?

Charlie walked in just as I was finishing up his dinner. "Well, I got a phone call from a Mrs. Cullen today and asked me if you could have supper at her house tonight. What would they want with you?" My father asked while he sat at the kitchen table.

"Well… her son and daughter are… um… in my class. And… well… her daughter asked me to have dinner with her…" Charlie had already said yes to Alice's mother so, what would he do now? Charlie couldn't possibly hurt me now, not if he wanted to keep his 'loving dad' appearance. "They told me to be at their house by six…"

"Well, you better get going, you worthless piece of trash," Charlie retorted before taking a bite out of his dinner, making a disgusted look and taking another bite. He'd never called me worthless before. Charlie had never done any name calling in all of the eight years he had started beating me.

A few tears slid down my face while I mumbled: "Yes sir," and left the house. While driving, a few more tears slid down my face. Maybe it was a bad idea to go to the Cullen house tonight. Charlie was right. I am worthless. And Alice shouldn't have to put up with me. "God… I'm so stupid…" I muttered to myself while driving towards the woods. Slowly pulling my truck to the side, a few more tears decided to slide down my face as I checked the time. Five forty-eight… still a few more minutes until I had to show my worthless face into their new house.

There was a bottle of water in my truck that I could use to hide the redness but it would smudge the makeup. Already it was smudging. Looking myself in the small mirror, I saw that some of my bruises were showing. Great… Good thing I had a small compact of makeup in my storage compartment. Taking it out and applying it to the bruises, it was a good thing my crying had stopped because it would have smudged the makeup even more. It took a while but after having every piece of my skin—or almost—under makeup, the crying almost stopped.

Well, enough crying and wallowing in my own doubts. Time to show my face in their house. Sighing, I swerved my truck on the road once more and drove down their steep driveway and stopped in front of the shiny silver Volvo. Looking at their beautiful home, my mouth fell open. It was huge! So light and open, it was unbelievable that they had so much money. Then again, their father is a doctor and doctors make a lot of money. I wonder what the mother does for a living…

Getting out of my car carefully, I limped up to the front porch and didn't even have to ring the doorbell for someone had already opened it. And that person was Alice.

"Bella! I'm so happy you could make it! Come on in!" She exclaimed happily as she ushered me inside slowly, knowing I had a 'bad leg' and had to walk quite slowly. "Dad's going to come home soon, if you'd like him to check out your leg," She offered, which made my heart race. If her father looked at my leg, he'd know something's wrong.

"Thanks for the offer, but it's fine," I assured her just as a woman with beautiful caramel coloured hair, a heart-shaped face—not literally, it's just a figure of speech—and stunning green eyes approached us with a heart-felt smile.

"Ah! I see your friend has arrived," The woman answered before standing in front of me.

"Bella, I'd like you to meet my mother, Esme," Alice introduced. Man, her mother was so beautiful. It made me feel inferior, like I shouldn't be standing here in front of these beautiful people. They could all pass for supermodels.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Cullen," I answered but she just brushed off my greeting.

"Please, Mrs. Cullen makes me feel old. Call me Esme," She replied, making me feel slightly better that she wasn't offended by my greeting.

"Alright, Mrs. Cul—I mean, Esme. You have a lovely home," I answered while looking around. Their living room looked like it had been here for years, not just days. A large black piano stood against the wall, pulling me towards it. Playing had always been one of my favourite things to do in my spare time but because of Charlie's beatings, that stopped. My father had even taken away my keyboard piano because it reminded him too much of Mom. "You have a beautiful piano…"

"Thank you. It actually belongs to Edward."

My eyes darted from the piano to Esme in complete shock. "Edward plays?"

"And he's quite good at it," Alice replied, stepping away from me to stand beside her mother. "He really hates bragging about it."

"And I don't. You know that Ali," Edward's musical voice came from the staircase as he joined us in the living room. His bronze hair was tousled and he wore a plain white T-Shirt and blue jeans. And he was absolutely gorgeous. Again, my feeling from earlier about leaving this beautiful family just grew and grew. "Hey Bella."

"Edward…" I mumbled shyly.

"Do you play, Bella?" Esme asked me, snapping me out of my horrible thoughts.

"Um… a little but it's probably nothing compared to your son," I mentioned, eyeing Edward pleasantly as he flashed me a crooked grin that made my heart skip a beat. Why was I falling for this guy so easily? It showed that he probably wanted nothing to do with me so why should I even get attached? I'm the ugly duckling compared to this Adonis.

"Why don't you demonstrate your skills to us?" Edward asked, obviously curious.

Suddenly, I was feeling extremely nervous. "Um… I don't think that's just a good idea… I have a really bad leg…" was my lame excuse. They all looked pleadingly at me so, I added with a little smile: "Maybe a little later tonight."

"Perfect!" And suddenly, a door swung open behind me and a man with perfectly combed blond hair and lovely blue eyes came through the door, a black medicine bag in hand.

He spotted me and stopped in his tracks. "Oh, I didn't know we were going to have company tonight," Dr. Cullen answered casually but the way he answered that made me want to leave and let them have their dinner as a family.

"I can leave, if it suits—"

"Nonsense, Bella! We're ecstatic to have you over! And now that Carlisle has arrived, we can start eating," She mentioned as she gave me a big hug. It had been a long time since someone hugged me this way. She was so motherly towards everyone, it almost made me want to cry. Esme stopped our embrace, turned her head to the side and screamed over her shoulder: "Rose, would you mind moving your homework so we can eat?"

"Sure Mom!" A lovely female voice screamed from the kitchen.

"It seems you have a big family," I replied as Esme ushered us to the dining area.

"Oh, that's right. You haven't met Rosalie yet," Alice realised as we made our way to the kitchen table. Esme was putting all the food on the table as a woman about a year older than me with blond hair and stunning green eyes packed up her school books and put them aside. I'd seen her that first day in the cafeteria but otherwise, we hadn't been properly introduced. Rosalie took one glance my way and didn't say a word as she returned to moving her books.

She doesn't like me, I thought to myself as we all sat down to eat once Esme told us to. She had done everything imaginable: backed potatoes; meatloaf; steamed vegetables; sliced bread with butter on the side; the list goes on. And it all smelled delicious. If I could cook like Esme, maybe Charlie wouldn't beat me every day. Somehow, for no reason, I was jealous.

But jealousy was soon replaced by realisation. Tonight would be the first supper I would get in one whole year. Charlie never let me have any supper and he would never know about the snacks. It would only upset him more and the beatings would only get worse.

"You can just help yourself, Bella," Esme said as she handed a few plates to everyone so they could help themselves to what they wanted. Filling my plate with food and taking a bite of meatloaf, warmth and loving memories flooded my mind.

The first time my mom taught me to sing… When she tried to teach me piano… The times at the beach in La Push, Washington… The three of us laughing and having a good time… It was all so overwhelming.

"Do you like the food Bella?" Esme's voice brought me out of my reverie. I opened my eyes—not even realising that they were closed—and saw that they all had smiles on their faces.

Gulping, I muttered an answer. "Um… yes, it's delicious. Thank you."

"You're very welcome, dear. Now, tell us about yourself. How long have you been in Forks?" She asked before taking a bite of meatloaf.

"All my life, I haven't been anywhere else."

"And where did you learn how to play piano?" Edward asked. Of course he'd come back to this. I was the mystery girl and he wanted to know more.

"From my mother." It was still a little hard to talk about her. No one knew, other than the kids at school and practically everyone in La Push and Forks knew that she had died. But the Cullens didn't need to be burdened with my petty stories.

"She must be quite the musician," Esme commented happily.

"She sure was…" I muttered but unfortunately, they all heard me and looked at me sceptically. Composing myself once more, I came up with a lie. "She stopped playing a few years ago." And stopped living a few years ago, I thought to myself before taking a quick bite of bread.

"I'd love to meet her," Esme mentioned with a smile.

I'm sure she would.

"So, I hear your father is the Chief of Police in Forks? That must be quite a title," Dr. Cullen mentioned in between bites.

"Um… yes it is, Dr. Cullen," I mentioned shyly once more. But he seemed to brush off my comment as well. What did I say this time?

"She seems to be well raised, Alice," Dr. Cullen mentioned with a slight smile to his daughter.

"Did… Did I say something wrong?" I asked to no one, hoping that they wouldn't be mad at me for being polite. Charlie would never let me call him 'Dad' or anything other than sir. Maybe that was where the good manners came from. I was always afraid of getting hurt by anyone, especially my own father.

But Dr. Cullen started laughing at me. "You did nothing wrong. But you are much too formal. Here, you can call me Carlisle. Guests don't need to be so formal in the Cullen household, Bella," Carlisle responded with a fatherly smile.

"Thank you," I whispered with a slight smile of my own.

"Oh and Dad, would it be possible that you could check on Bella's leg after dinner? It seems to be bothering her," Alice asked, making me glare at her. Why did she have to ask that? It wouldn't help my situation in the least.

"Actually, it's fine. No need to look at it," I reassured the both of them.

"But Bella, it looks like your leg could be badly hurt. My dad's right there," Alice answered, pointing to her dad with her fork. Carlisle turned towards me and his serious doctor face came on.

"I'd be glad to take a look at it if you'd like, Bella," Carlisle answered and I just shook my head while Alice nodded hers. It wasn't possible to kick her under the table, seeing as she was on my left side and it would hurt like hell to kick her with my left leg. Damn you Alice!

"You're quite stubborn, aren't you?" Edward asked with a slight chuckle. My gaze turned to him and I sent him daggers, which he laughed at even more. What was wrong with him? "Hey, only pointing out the obvious."

"Thank you Edward but my leg is just fine. It's only a little sprain," I lied between my teeth while keeping that angry gaze of mine on him.

I could swear that Alice mumbled something that sounded like: "Doesn't look like a little sprain." Would everyone just stop picking on me? Glaring at her, she smiled and sighed before speaking once again. "Look Bella, you're outnumbered, just give up and let Dad look at it. It won't take long."

A sigh escaped my lips and decided to give in but wouldn't give them any information about how it happened. "Alright, but may I finish this wonderful dinner first? I'm sure your mother would be very upset if her food went cold," I answered and Esme just chuckled as everyone kept eating.

The Cullens kept asking me minor questions about myself, which were simple to answer, considering that they weren't about my father or the past. It wasn't right to lie to this family. They did nothing wrong. But I wouldn't have a choice if it came to that. After we all finished, Carlisle rose and asked me if I wanted him to check out my leg privately or in the living room. I answered him honestly that it would be better to do it privately. He simply told me to follow him into his study, which was thankfully on the main floor, and we entered a large room with many bookcases, masks and paintings. It was quite exquisite and exotic.

"This is your study? It's amazing," I stated as Dr. Cullen grabbed his medical bag and took out a few things like bandages and scissors. At first, they scared me but, knowing that this man was a doctor, the fear was erased.

"Thank you. They're all collectables. Now, would you like to sit over on my desk or on the couch?" I didn't even realise that he had a small psychologist couch near his desk.

"The couch is fine," I mumbled while limping over to the couch and sitting on it. Carlisle didn't take his eyes off of me as I sat down on the comfortable couch. He obviously didn't like my limping. Sighing, I decided to come clean with the doctor. "You're not going to like what you see."

"And why is that?" Carlisle asked as he bent down and started rolling my pant leg up slowly, careful not to hurt me. Sure it hurt a little but not as much as this morning.

"You'll see…" I muttered to myself when the purple started to show. His eyes grew wide but he kept rolling my left pant leg. When it was above the knee, Carlisle stopped and stared. I warned him that he wouldn't like what he saw. It's horrible what a father can do to his daughter.

"Dear lord…" Carlisle muttered but I just turned my head to the side and closed my eyes, hiding the shame in them. No one should have to see this… "Bella, who did this to you?" He obviously knew I didn't do this to myself. Smart man.

But he couldn't know. "I… I can't tell you."

"Bella, I can't help you if you're not willing to let me help you," He reassured softly. Carlisle wasn't trying to pressure me or anything, he was just there to help. But I still couldn't tell him.

"I just can't…" I whispered while shaking my head back and forth. My heart was beating quickly and it felt like my heart was in my stomach, making my broken ribs hurt like hell. "Please…" My voice was shallow and Carlisle immediately saw the difference.

"Bella, what hurts?" His tone was very professional as he stood up and pushed me softly on the shoulders for me to lie down. With difficulty, I followed his orders and tried to get my breathing under control. Carlisle placed his hands on the bottom of my shirt and asked: "May I?" He actually asked for my permission. That reassured me a lot and a feeling of trust came to me. Carlisle Cullen wouldn't hurt me, not like my father did every day.

I nodded and he immediately started lifting my shirt up and lifted it right under my breasts. Good thing I was wearing a sports bra. It didn't hurt as much. When he saw my untapped stomach, he gasped and all of a sudden stopped any movement. "This is worse than I thought… Bella, is someone beating you?" What the hell?! He gets one look at my stomach and leg and immediately assumes that someone's beating! Not that it isn't. But he didn't have to know. He took my silence as a problem. "Bella, is someone beating you?" He repeated and a few tears fell down my face.

I couldn't hide this anymore. It had been so long that I kept this a secret. And maybe Carlisle couldn't tell anyone. Nodding, he sighed and asked me another question. "Bella, who is it?" Again, silence filled the room. Carlisle didn't like this, it was obvious. But he reformulated the question. "Bella, is it someone you know?" I nodded, more tears falling down my cheeks. "Is it someone close to you?" Another nod. "Is it a friend?" I shook my head. Carlisle sighed and asked another question. "Is it a family member?" I nodded and the atmosphere seemed to change as Carlisle started to figure out who's been beating me. "Bella, have your parents been beating you?"

"Could you pass me a notepad and a pen please?" I asked, my voice shaking with every word. It was hard to say anything to him when I was told that if anyone knew, they would be hurt. Maybe I wouldn't be breaking that threat if it was written down. Carlisle went to get a small notepad from his desk and came back with both items. Scribbling down for a few seconds, I ripped out the piece of paper from the rest of the pack and handed it to him.

Carlisle's Point of View

Bella had deep and serious injuries. She obviously hadn't done these herself, they were too extensive for her to have done it herself. And besides, she couldn't bang her own leg that badly. "Bella, have your parents been beating you?" I asked her softly, trying not to scare her too much. She had been silent throughout my whole series of questions but now, she just asked me for a notepad and a pen. What was her plan?

But then again, I obeyed and seconds later, she handed me a small piece of paper with many words scribbled on it.

My dad's been beating me.

But you can't tell ANYONE!!!!

"Please…" She pleaded as more tears fell down her face. The extent of her injuries shown when the tears removed the apparent makeup she had applied on her face. Many deep bruises formed her face, not leaving an ounce of skin uninjured. This was horrifying. But I didn't even know this girl and we were already treating her like family. So far, she was just a patient who needed a lot of help. To think that her father was beating her. It was… gruesome! And Bella seemed so sweet and gentle. And so polite. "Please Dr. Cullen. You can't tell anyone," She pleaded once more before wiping the tears away.

Sighing, I pinched the bridge of my nose and promised: "Alright. I won't tell anyone, doctor's oath." And I always kept my promises, no matter how painful they were.

"Thank you," She whispered as I bent down and took one more look at her badly broken leg. It showed that she had walked on it for too long. "There's no way you can help me without my dad knowing, is there?" She read my face easily. Damn…

"Unfortunately, no, there isn't. But you can stay here for the night and I can—"

"I'm sorry Dr. Cullen but I can't. My dad will only be angrier with me if I don't come home. And it's best if I leave now," She mentioned as she got up as best as possible without getting hurt. Limping towards the door, she shot a small smile towards me. "Thank you very much Carlisle. I'm sorry for what you had to see. And thank you for not telling anyone," She mentioned before limping out of my office.

Running up to catch her, I grabbed her shoulder softly, hoping not to hurt her and she turned around. "Bella, you can't go back to your house. It could be very dangerous."

"Carlisle, I have to go back. And besides, you don't know me very well. It just doesn't feel right to ask anything from all of you," She answered sadly. Unfortunately, she was right. We didn't know much about her and now, I was asking her to come and stay with us. Alice would be thrilled but… what about everyone else? "And I'm sorry but we're going to have to lie. The rest of your family is probably going to ask many questions."

Sighing, I closed my eyes for a split second and opened them again to see her saddened face. "I'm afraid so. Why don't we go and face the music?" I asked before we both walked slowly into the family room and saw everyone besides Rosalie—where had she gone now?—sitting in the living room, waiting for us. They rose when the say us coming in.

"So? What's the verdict?" Alice asked me worriedly.

"It's nothing more than a problem in her leg that has been occurring often these past few days. It should heal in the next few hours or days," I lied. It didn't feel right but I had given my doctor's oath to Bella not to say anything.

"I told you," Bella bragged uncomfortably. Alice sighed and came to stand beside her friend. Unfortunately, Edward noticed something and gasped.

"What happened to your face?!" He almost screeched. Looking at Bella's face, I saw the dark bruises under the makeup from the crying. Oh no! We hadn't covered them up. She's been so occupied in leaving that we hadn't covered any of her bruises. This would take a lot of explaining. Esme looked at me worriedly, thinking that I did that to her.

"It's not your husband's fault," Bella told my wife as Edward's horrified face went to me. His eyes asked me to tell him what was going on but I just shook my head. No one could know.

"Bella, what's going on?" Alice asked her friend, taking a firm hold on her shoulders. Luckily, Bella hadn't been hurt there so she didn't flinch at my daughter's touch.

"I… I can't tell you Alice. I'm sorry but I have to go," Bella removed herself from Alice's hold and limped towards the door but Edward blocked her path. She didn't like it. "Edward, please move out of the way," Bella asked but my son didn't step out of the way.

"Not until you tell us what's going on," Edward demanded.

"I can't Edward. Now please move." At least she's still polite about it. It was still wrong for Bella to keep this a secret but, she had her purposes for keeping everyone in the dark. "Edward, please."

"Bella, what's going on?! You're freaking me out!" Alice replied sadly, tears almost coming to her beautiful green eyes.

"Alice, I'm sorry but—"

"Bella, tell us the truth," Esme said with only worry and sadness. Bella sighed and held only anger and pain in her eyes.

"You want to know? Fine!" She lifted her shirt and everyone saw the purple bruises forming Bella's stomach. When everyone had a good look at it, she replaced her shirt correctly and looked at all of them with sadness. "You wanted me to demonstrate my piano skills. Well, this one song would explain everything." Bella limped over to the piano and started playing a song.

Bella's Point of View

I started to play 'Because of You' by Kelly Clarkson and all the emotions held inside were unleashed. Every single time Charlie hit me… the funeral for my mother… the anger in Charlie's eyes whenever he was drunk… everything I had to give up… All of those things came to me when the song started playing.

No one interrupted me when I was singing and playing. God… what would they think of me now? Nothing seemed to fit anymore. Nothing felt right. It explained very well in the song that I was ashamed of my life because it's empty. And it's true. I don't have a mom anymore, no friends... no loving father. I don't know how to let anyone else in anymore, because of Charlie.

When the song ended, a tear slid down my face and fell on the keys. No one spoke. Not one sound was made. They hated me. "This is why you wouldn't let me in…" Alice realised sadly, a small sniffle escaping her lips.

"Yes," I muttered softly, forcing myself not to look at them.

"Why didn't you tell us something was up?" Edward asked sadly. Huh. I thought he didn't care that much. Or maybe he's just putting up an act.

"I couldn't. And I wasn't supposed to. You don't know how much I had to give up." My voice was slowly caving, each word almost forced out of my mouth.

"Bella, who's been doing this to you? We can help you," Esme answered and a small scoff escaped my lips involuntarily. They would try to protect me, but at what cost?

Getting up, I slowly limped towards the door and finally spoke up for the first time in years. "You can't protect me from my own father. No one can." And then I walked out of their house, leaving them stunned and speechless. Getting in my truck, I drove off just as Edward was running out of the house and calling my name. But I was already gone. They couldn't help me. No one could. And tonight, I'd probably receive a horrible beating that would enable me to go to school tomorrow.

Looking at the clock on the dash, it read eight twenty-eight. Had it really been that long that I'd been in the Cullen house? It didn't feel like it took two hours to eat, get Dr. Cullen to look at my injuries and almost tell them about my whole life? But they knew, and that was dangerous.

Arriving home, I parked my car, took a deep breath and walked into the house. "Finally home, worthless bitch!" Charlie slurred. Oh god… he was drunk. This was going to be a long night. Just as I entered the living room, something collided with my stomach, which made me double over in pain. Looking down, my eyes detected an empty broken beer bottle. Oh god…

"Yes sir… I'm home," I whispered in pain, hurt by his words. He'd never called me that before. Ok, trash is fine but… bitch?

"Then get your fat ass over here! You're going to pay for leaving me alone tonight!" He screeched at me, ushering me into the living room. Gulping, I forced myself to walk towards Charlie, who had been sitting in the living room with three empty beer bottles and one half emptied in his hand. Oh dear lord… He was so drunk! I'm in it for tonight…

Closing my eyes, I braced my body for the blows but didn't expect Charlie to grab an empty beer bottle and swung directly at my face, forcing me to fall to the side and hitting my head on the table, letting the darkness engulf me.

Charlie's Point of View

Damn it! I'd have to call the school tomorrow.

After the senseless beating, that stupid Isabella was lying on the living room floor, bleeding and battered into unconsciousness. Swaying a little from the alcohol, I went to bed, leaving that horrible daughter of mine on the floor in her heap of blood and bruises.

What did I do to deserve such a terrible and heartless daughter?

So what did you think? REVIEW PLEASE!!!!

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