Alright, sorry for the lack of update. But here's an exciting chapter. These days, I've been feeling like my head's about to explode and haven't had much time for myself. So, here's something exciting for you guys. READ AND REVIEW!!!

Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight!!!

Chapter 9

Problems

Esme's Point of View

I'd just finished cleaning up the windows when I started hearing a wonderful melody coming from downstairs. It was coming from the piano. "Bella must be composing," I said to myself and decided to go downstairs to see Bella play. It must be wonderful for her to be able to fulfil her goal in life. Her father had banned her from everything in life. Now, she wouldn't have to worry about being hurt or almost… I can't even think it. It's too horrible to think.

Walking downstairs, I started to hear some of the lyrics. But they were… sad. As I went down the stairs, the lyrics became clearer.

"She walks to school with a lunch she packed

Nobody knows what she's holding back;

Wearing the same dress she wore yesterday,

She hides the bruises with the linen and lace;

Oh,"

A hand flew to my mouth. I knew that song. Of course I had heard it once in my life and it made me cry for a while. But… it did seem logical—in some way—that Bella was singing that song at such a time. After the trauma that her father has inflicted on Bella, it's understandable to hear Bella sing this particular song.

"The teacher wonders but she doesn't ask,

It's hard to see the pain behind the mask;

Bearing the burden of a secret storm,

Sometimes she wishes she was never born;"

A few tears ran down my face. Oh my goodness… Did Bella really think this way? That she would rather not have been born? Just because of that horrible father of hers? Never would I have hoped that anyone wished they were never born, especially not Bella.

"Through the wind and the rain,

She stands hard as a stone in a world that she can't rise above;

But her dreams give her wings and she flies to a place where she's loved.

Concrete Angel,"

Walking slowly towards the living room, Bella came into view. She had a hard time pushing on the pedals because of her leg but didn't have a problem with her fingers. Her voice was magnificent but she kept her eyes closed, completely ignoring me. Her face expression indicated how much pain she had been through all of those years.

"Somebody cries in the middle of the night,

The neighbours hear but they turn out the lights;

A fragile soul caught in the hands of fate,

When morning comes it will be too late.

Through the wind and the rain,

She stands hard as a stone in a world that she can't rise above;

But her dreams give her wings and she flies to a place where she's loved.

Concrete Angel,"

The tears flowed freely now. After all, the pain and sorrow embedded into the song was cutting at my heart. Bella… My heart wanted to protect her so much. It was unbearable to see her this way, in so much emotional pain. I wish I could just take it all away!

"A statue stands in a shaded place,

An angel girl with an upturned face;

Her name is written on a polished rock,

A broken heart that the world forgot.

Through the wind and the rain,

She stands hard as a stone in a world that she can't rise above;

But her dreams give her wings and she flies to a place where she's loved.

Concrete Angel."

The song had come to an end and Bella looked at the keys, barely able to look at anything or anyone. She still hadn't noticed my presence, thank god. I was crying my eyes out, trying to compose myself but the effect this song had on me—or anyone if they were here listening to her wonderful voice—was making it harder to compose one's self. Approaching her softly, the click of my heels made Bella look up in shock. "Esme…" was the only word she mumbled and stared at me in horror. I couldn't say anything. It was as if the words from the song just took my breath away and made me unable to utter a word. The poor girl… She'd been through so much. It was a miracle she lasted this long. "Esme… I'm so—I'm sorry for… I didn't mean to use the piano when Edward wasn't around…" She kept mumbling but I just walked towards her, wanting to protect her as best as possible. Poor child! "I can't believe I made you cry… I'm so sorry…" Giving her a warm and caring hug, she stopped babbling and just stood there, not wrapping her arms around me. She was confused and frankly scared.

"Bella, don't apologize for anything. Nothing was your fault. And I do mean nothing. Nothing that happened din the past years was your fault. Please don't apologize. It's just…" I pulled away, looking her deep in the eyes. She seemed so confused and sadness enveloped her eyes, "your song. It moved me a lot."

"Esme…" She said, looking away from me and closing her eyes.

"Please dear, look at me." She didn't look at me so I placed a finger under her chin and slowly turned her head. A single tear fell down her bruised face as she looked deep into my green eyes. "Bella, this family loves you and wants nothing more than to protect you from that man. Please believe us when we say this. We want you to stay here," I explained and she smiled a little, trying to make me feel better. She got up slowly but mostly by herself and hugged me hard.

"Thank you so much… for giving me an opportunity to have a normal life." Her voice was filled with happiness that made me cry even more. We separated from the hug and looked at each other with a wonderful smile. Suddenly, the door opened and Rosalie stepped through the door, erasing the smile from my face.

"Hi Mom, I'm—" She was interrupted when Rosalie saw my face, all red and teary from the crying. "What's going on?!" She asked, pointing right at Bella. Unfortunately, Bella stepped back a few feet, limping away from me. Rose walked towards us and, shocking me completely, pushed Bella away from me and made her fall. "I can't believe, after all that's happened, you dare to make my own mother cry! What'd you do this time? Scare her with those stories of your past?" Rosalie dared to speak like that to Bella, who had been trying to lift herself up.

"Rosalie!" I exclaimed, appalled by her sudden repulsion towards Bella.

"No, it's alright Esme. Let her finish. It seems as though Rosalie has a lot more to say to me than just that," Bella said while standing up, grabbing one of her crutches and walking over to us. She stood just a few inches from Rosalie and waited there. "What is it you'd like to say to me Rosalie? Come on, I can take it."

"You've been nothing but trouble the moment that my family laid their eyes on you. All of this stuff with your abusive father; you just dumped it all on us. And you put us all in danger because of your stupid stunt. If you wanted someone's pity, why not just go to an orphanage now or maybe just some charity case that will take you in? It'll be better on us, and much better on yourself as well," Rosalie said and Bella just stood there, listening to every word. How could my own daughter say that?! It was cruel and unnecessary.

"Rosalie!" I exclaimed even louder, trying to get my daughter to look at me. But she wouldn't. Rose would just stare at Bella.

Bella, on the other hand, looked emotionless. Her face was unreadable. She didn't deserve this at all. "Well, this changes things… I'm happy that you told me the truth. Never have I wanted to hurt anyone in this house." Bella went towards the door slowly and unfortunately, I just stood there, shocked and bewildered. Hurt was obvious in her movement, not just because she was hurt physically but obviously emotionally. "I'll come and collect my stuff when I'm settled into an orphanage. I'm terribly sorry to have placed all of this onto all of you. Please forgive me," Bella said before walking out of the house, leaving me shocked and speechless.

Rosalie dared to scoff and say: "Finally got rid of her." Looking at her, my face was literally angry and appalled. She looked at me and her smug expression disappeared.

"Rosalie Lillian Cullen, I am so ashamed of you. How dare you say something like that to her?!" I practically screamed at her. Rosalie flinched at my tone and I composed myself. "Bella never did anything to hurt me! She sang a song and it got to me. That's why I was crying, not because she said something to me or anything about what happened to her. She's a kind person Rosalie. I cannot believe that you would ever say those things to someone."

"But Mom, she—"

"No, I don't want to hear anything that's not true. Have you seen Bella do anything wrong to us since she has lived in our house for the past few days? I haven't. Now you go and find her and apologize. You're not coming into this house until you do," I ordered while pointing to the door Bella just walked out of. My daughter looked at me stunned for a few seconds before walking out of the house hesitantly. Bella would come back here and stay with us, whatever it would take.

Rosalie's Point of View

God… I can't believe Mom was making me do this. What did Bella have that was so special? It's not like she had looks or even a nice personality. But she was selfless. Bella cared about others more than herself at times. And obviously, Eddie boy was starting to have feelings for this girl, for whatever the reason, I'm not too sure. Going towards the garage, I saw that her old and rusty truck door was still there and had the driver's seat door open. Huh. That's odd. Walking over there, I saw that there was nothing out of the ordinary, just Bella leaving her door open. Putting my hand on the seat, I suddenly heard a high pitched screamed, followed by a woman screaming: "NO!" The scream was a few feet into the forest beside our house. And it sounded like… Bella.

"Bella?" Hesitantly, I walked towards the forest and towards the sound. It was a little creepy, going into a forest when not knowing what was waiting for me. The branches broke under my feet and suddenly, there was movement ahead of me.

Stabilizing myself with the nearest tree, a scruffy male voice shouted ahead of me: "Who's there?!" I approached the voice and was shocked at what was in front of me. A man with scruffy black hair and a moustache had a hand on Bella's mouth and held a knife to her throat, his arm around her chest and holding her against him. Bella looked terrified. Her eyes glistened with fear and shock.

"Who are you?! Let go of her!" I screamed at the man holding her hostage. As I took a step forward, he pushed the knife farther into Bella's neck, making beads of crimson red blood trickle down her throat. That gesture made me stop immediately. "What do you want with her?"

"She's my daughter, I can do whatever I damn please," The man responded angrily. He slurred most of his words, meaning he was probably drunk. Bella looked at me and her eyes held one message: GET OUT OF HERE! How could she even think of making me leave? She obviously was in danger. "She's going to go home with me and do as I say."

"You can't make her do anything! She's a person, not a slave."

"Look Bella," The man said as he placed his head right next to hers and whispered in her ear, making Bella shut her eyes in horror, "this girl's just lying once again, thinking that she cares for you. After all the stuff she said to you, can you believe her?" Her father whispered and my mouth literally fell. The man saw my expression change and laughed. "Yes, that's right. I heard that little outburst of yours. If you ask me, it just proves that this bitch right here needs to stay home and not to bother anybody with her damn problems." Bella's father removed the knife from Bella's neck and placed the tip behind Bella's back.

"Don't call her that!" I screamed, not knowing what came after me. The fact that this man was taunting Bella and insulting her really got to me, affected my heart. Maybe I was changing my opinion towards Bella Swan. "You better let go of her or I swear I'll—"

"You'll do what? There's not much you can do with this pretty knife right here," He waved the knife around and placed it right back against Bella's side. She looked absolutely terrified as her brown eyes locked onto mine. A stray tear fell down her face and it made my eyes water. She was really brave to try and stand up against this man. But with his hand covering her mouth, she couldn't do much, "threatening to end this pathetic slut's life. Besides, she doesn't deserve to live. A bitch like this should just die in a hole, alone and unloved. And one step coming from you will just endanger my bitch of a daughter's life. Like this." And suddenly, Bella's father plunged the knife into her back, making her eyes bulge out in pain and shock. A gasp of shock escaped my lips as he placed the bloody knife back to Bella's neck.

Bella's eyes drooped a little and she tried to focus onto me. "Bella!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. The man just laughed and kept a hold on Bella, making sure she doesn't fall. Bella was losing blood, and a lot of it. Most of it was trickling onto the ground beneath her. "Let her go! She doesn't deserve this!" I really was having a change of heart. At first, I thought Bella was just making all of this up to get attention. Now I knew the truth. She really needed help. Bella needed a family to love her. Mom would give her that.

"Rosalie?" Dad's voice asked from far behind. His voice was faint but it got Bella's father's attention. He threw Bella aside, making her fall to the ground with a loud thud, and running off in the woods. But I didn't care. Running towards Bella, I knelt to the ground and placed her in my arms, trying to get her to look at me. Her eyes were drooping and focusing in and out. Not good.

"Bella? Bella, can you hear me?" I placed a hand on her back and a wet substance clung to my hand. Her blood was now covered on my hand but at least it would stop the flow. "Bella, come on, stay with me. You'll be fine."

"Rosalie… you don't need to be nice to me… If I die… it's going to be simpler on… every… one…" Her voice cracked at the end and became a whisper. Bella's eyes closed and her head fell backwards.

Oh no… "Dad! Help! Come on Bella, stay with us. You can't die! You can't leave my annoying sister and brother! They love you. And I need to show you I'm not as rude as you think I am. Come on Bella! Stay with us!" I tried to shake her awake but she would just moan and keep her eyes closed. The blood was flowing too fast. She wouldn't last any longer if Dad didn't come here soon.

"Rosalie, what's all the—let me through." Dad's voice changed automatically. It went from worried father to professional doctor. He kneeled in front of me and turned Bella over gently. The wound actually shocked me and my father. It was right beside the spine, hitting an artery. I might not know much about medicine but I knew that if it wasn't treated right away, Bella would die from blood loss. "Charlie knew where to stab. We need to bring her in the house." Dad brought Bella in his arms and started running towards the house. I followed him reluctantly and saw Mom rushing up to us. She saw Bella unconscious in Dad's arms and gasped in shock, placing her hands in front of her mouth.

"Oh dear god!" Mom exclaimed as Dad went in the house and rushed to Bella's hospital bed. Mom followed him and placed a few blankets on the bed so Bella's blood wouldn't stain the sheets. How did one person have so much bad luck?

Dad started working on Bella's back the second she was placed onto the bed. Mom and I clung to each other and tried to be strong for Bella and for Dad. Hopefully Bella would live…

Alright so Charlie came back and is running away, Bella's been stabbed and is losing a lot of blood and Rosalie is… caring? What has the world come to?! :P Anyways, you guys know what to do. REVIEW!!!!

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