Alright everyone, I know I haven't updated in a while but here's a new chapter!! I've been trying to get inspiration and now, I just got it. So now, the updates will come faster and with more romance I believe. So READ AND REVIEW!!!

Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight!!!

Chapter 8

Word travels fast

Bella's Point of View

It had been a few days since I'd been at the Cullen household and tried to help around the house as much as possible. Unfortunately, Esme wouldn't let me even lift a finger to help. Not one! Frankly, I felt a little disappointed. I mean, they took me in to avoid confronting my abusive father but… by just sitting around, I just felt like an even bigger burden to everyone.

"Esme, please let me give you a hand," I pleaded as she made lunch for the both of us. Every day, Edward's mother had a smile on her face as she helped me around the house. Since I could barely walk now, Esme helped me out in the best ways possible.

"No need Bella, you're supposed to be resting. And besides, lunch is served," Esme answered while she brought over the grilled cheese sandwiches and soup on a platter. It made me feel horrible to know that she had to do everything for me. "Dig in Bella. Your food will get cold," She said, snapping me out of my guilt. Esme noticed that I had spaced out once more and unfortunately, she knew what came after this. "Bella—"

"I'm really sorry for making you do everything. And I never meant for this to happen," I said, and saw that Esme sighed in exasperation. We'd been over this over and over but it just didn't feel right to take these people for advantage.

"Bella, we've been over this. We're not going to let you go back to that horrible father of yours. No one could have stopped this. And we will most definitely keep you away from that horrible man," Esme said, making me look away from her. It was so sad to see that someone wanted to sacrifice themselves just to keep me from harm's way.

"Thank you," I muttered with a slight smile. Esme placed a hand on my arm and smiled at me.

"You're very welcome. Now, how about you tell me a few things about yourself?" She asked before taking a bite of her grilled cheese sandwich. Taking a sip of the soup, a warm feeling has appeared in my heart. It tasted so good! Like nothing I've ever tasted before. Once again, warm memories filled my mind, such as the recitals I used to go so many years ago, when Mom was in the front row, cheering me on. It felt so nice to have her there by my side all those years ago, helping me with the piano. "Bella?" Esme asked me, snapping me out of my beautiful thoughts.

"Um… I'm sorry, what did you say? I was too caught up in the delicious taste of your soup. It's fantastic!" I complimented with a smile. She laughed a motherly laugh and smiled at me with those emerald eyes, just like her son's.

"Well, I'm glad you like it. Now, please tell me about yourself," She asked once again.

"Well, I've lived in Forks my whole life, Mom taught me how to play the piano when I was only five years old, and… well there's not much to me."

"Well, have you thought about playing the piano in the future? You would be a great musician in the future."

"Thank you but…"

"What's the matter?" She asked worriedly, since I didn't finish my sentence.

A small chuckle erupted from my throat. It was a little ironic that, in all the years of hiding my secrets from everyone, I could confide my dreams and goals to this woman. "I've always wanted to write my own songs and perform them in front of everyone. But… I don't think that's going to happen." My voice descended immensely at the end of my sentence and I decided to take a bite of my sandwich to avoid any looks from Esme.

"And why not? It's a great idea!" She assured me with a large smile.

"Well, I was thinking, with the money I had saved up all these years, maybe I would go buy a laptop and a small piano. Something like that," I told her honestly before finishing the lovely food.

"Whenever you would like to go, I'll come along, if you'd like. And please save your money. We'll just buy whatever you need and—"

"Oh no, that's quite alright. I'd rather pay with my own money than have someone pay for something really expensive like that. I've got a few hundred or thousand dollars left over. It'll be fine. But thank you for everything. I really appreciate it," I said before shining her one of the best smiles I could come up with and went back to the silence in the room.

We had finished our meals and Esme went to do some cleaning in the rooms, which was hard to do. The place was so spotless! I stayed downstairs and tried to read Wuthering Heights, one of my favourite literature books. Unfortunately, my eyes darted to the piano. It seemed so… lonely. Yeah, I'm nuts when it comes to pianos. It seemed as though I could feel them. Okay, maybe I was just nuts in general. It wouldn't be surprising, especially after living with Charlie after all of these years. Getting up slowly, my leg still in a cast, I walked over to the piano, just running my fingers across the beautiful keys.

Maybe I would like living here for some time. Hopefully, I wouldn't be a bother to anyone. And hopefully, Charlie wouldn't find me any time soon.

Edward's Point of View

We had to go to school today. Mom wouldn't let any of us miss school and unfortunately, it was Monday. Yeah, Mondays really suck for everyone. Bella had stayed over this weekend and seemed to try to work around the house. Of course Mom wouldn't let her but she still tried. Stubborn Bella. As if she hadn't been through so much already.

And unfortunately, at school, everyone was different.

Word gets around pretty fast in Forks. A lot of gossip was going around, mostly about Bella. Most people had been asking if Charlie had really beaten Bella to death. Others were trying to see if Bella was lying just to get attention.

"I can't believe these people…" Alice muttered to herself at the lunch table. Everyone was sitting around speechless. Emmett and Jasper had heard what happened a few days ago with Bella and still couldn't believe it. Jasper tried to comfort Alice a little—yeah, my sister was still a little upset about everything that Charlie had done to her friend but was getting better at controlling her anger towards the man—but she still felt angry. Rosalie was… well Rosalie. She didn't care about much, other than herself. It really aggravated me to know that she hardly cared about what happened to Bella. It's not like Bella could have prevented this! "They'll believe anything they hear! I mean, Tanya asked me if Bella had beaten herself just to get some attention from others."

"What'd you say to that?" I asked curiously, hoping that Alice had told her off.

"I didn't know what to say! How in the world can one person beat herself that badly just to get some attention?! It's just… ugh!" Alice finally said while putting her head in her hands furiously. "I just left her there, trying to ignore what she said."

"Guess that didn't work…" Rosalie muttered and that officially threw me off.

"Rosalie, I know you don't like Bella but you could show a little kindness towards her. She has just went through so much and you're acting like a selfish brat who thinks only of herself!" I practically screamed at her. Rosalie looked at me incredulously but never left my gaze.

"She shouldn't even be at the house. What she needs is a hospital. We don't need to keep her around. It's just bothering our lives," Rose said, practically making my mouth drop. How could she be so selfish?! And it's surprising that she would even say that in front of us. Rosalie sat up, pushed her chair aside and left the room, not bothering to tell us where she was going. Well, no matter. We didn't need her attitude right now.

"Rosalie…" Emmett whispered to himself. They had finally started dating and now, Rosalie was acting this way. Fun for him… Emmett had to put up with her.

"I can't believe she said that!" Alice exclaimed incredulously. Jasper placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down with his presence and it seemed to work. Jasper and Alice were going a bit slower than Rosalie and Emmett. They were thinking about dating but never had time. But they had strong feelings for one another, that's for sure. "She's just so… so… ugh!" Again, Alice couldn't find any words to describe our sister. Frankly, I didn't either.

"I know how you feel Alice. But she's going to have to put up with Bella because she's going to stick around for a long time. No way is she going back to that man," I answered angrily. Everyone nodded and suddenly, I had a sudden urge to just leave and try to cool down. "I've got to go, I'll see you later." Getting up and leaving the cafeteria, my anger was boiling after Rosalie's hurtful words and I just needed to calm down.

Unfortunately, Bella wasn't here to calm me…

Wait, did I just think that?! Maybe I was starting to have feelings for Bella. Well, it wasn't a bad thing. Bella was a wonderful person who put herself above others. She didn't even care that she had almost died. All she wanted to do was make it bearable for us to deal with her. But everyone was happy that Bella was staying with us, well except for Rosalie.

I'd have to deal with my bratty older sister later.

Just as I was walking down the hall, Angela Weber started walking towards me. "Edward, may I talk to you?" She asked sweetly, but there was a hint of worry in her voice. I nodded and walked up to her. "How are you?"

"Um… just fine?" There was more to this question and I knew it.

"Is she… Is Bella alright? I heard all of these rumours and… is it true?" She asked worriedly, placing a hand to her neck. If Angela needed to cover her mouth, it wouldn't be very far. Angela had been kind enough to try to be friends with Bella before her father had senselessly beaten her but that never happened. Now, she was making up for everything. She was trying to be a good friend, which was working very well. Gulping, I nodded and she gasped in shock. It was hard for anyone to find out about this and, from personal experience, it was hard to find someone almost beaten to death.

"She's recovering right now but… I don't think she's going to school soon," I answered and Angela looked away from me, a few tears streaking down her face. Placing a hand on her shoulder, she tried to compose herself but it was hard. Unfortunately, I didn't know what to say. She was just as upset as Alice was. "She'll be alright."

"I… I know. It's just… How could someone do that to anyone, much less her father?!" Angela blurted and closed her eyes as more tears fell down. Everything was so out of order these days. Bella's just missed so many days of school—of course Alice and Angela were gathering all the notes and homework Bella was missing—and now, the whole school was making some lame rumours that just made Bella's reputation plummet even further down. Damn these kids! "God, what will happen now?"

"She's staying at our house for the time being. Bella will never go back to that bastard and my family and I will make sure of that," I assured her and Angela smiled at me.

"That makes me feel a lot better. Thanks Edward. I know that Bella is probably really glad someone's taking care of her," Angela answered before walking away from me with a slight smile on her face. She whipped her tears away before turning the corner towards the classes. Going to my locker, I placed my forehead on the locker door and closed my eyes.

What were we going to do with Bella's father? He was still out there, probably looking for her at this very moment—hopefully not. Maybe, just maybe, he was just hiding somewhere and trying to forget about Bella. It would be much better that way. But what would happen now? And… what would happen about my feelings towards Bella? Frankly, I wanted to get closer to Bella and hopefully, she would as well.

My heart wanted to get to know Isabella Swan very well.

Rosalie's Point of View

Just great… that girl was still going to stay with us! God damn it! I can't take much more of this! Walking out of the school, I went straight to my car, got in and drove away. Maybe missing an afternoon wouldn't be that bad. Mom wouldn't scold me that bad… okay she will but it didn't matter right now. Emmett was upset with me. I've already gotten a text from him, asking where if I'm alright but I didn't answer. No one wanted me when I was like this, in this horrible mood. I wanted to go home so badly but knew that she would be there when arriving. Mom would be all over her, trying to move her around. That girl was so toying with my mother's emotions. Alice was getting too attached to Bella and so was Edward. Well, he was starting to, anyways.

Driving away, I started to drive towards the house, hoping that Bella was somewhere unnoticeable, and some place where I wouldn't have to look at her bruised and ugly face. Why was everyone so attached to her? She wasn't anyone special. Unfortunately, everyone was putting up with her. But I wasn't buying any of it. Bella could act any way she wanted in front of the others up, with me, it wasn't working.

Although her past was a little sad, it didn't affect me.

And I should just tell her that straight to her face. No more wasting time with this girl.

Alright, that's it, I'm going home.

Driving faster towards home, my mind was set. Bella Swan would hear the truth from me, no matter how much it hurt the rest of my family. It was about time she stopped being a charity case for everyone around her, practically begging for someone to help her. No longer would we have to put up with Bella Swan, the bruised charity case.

I might be selfish but I'm only thinking of the welfare of my family. We needed to act normally, especially since we just moved here.

I wanted a normal life.

God… can you believe Rosalie?! Such a bitch I know but that's how I wanted to portray her for this chapter. Trust me, the next chapter will shock you, SERIOUSLY!!! So now, all you got to do is REVIEW!!!

Bellacullenswan17

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