Alright so this is a little lighter chapter for you all. READ AND REVIEW!!!

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Chapter 12

Talent night

Bella's Point of View

A few weeks later, I was able to remove the cast and was now able to walk on it with only an Ace Bandage. I was able to walk on it now, not for long though but it was still progress if you ask me. My bruises were healing extremely fast up to the point that they were hardly visible anymore. It was impressive how I showed no fright or anything of the sort towards the men in the Cullen household. Carlisle had told me that it would be possible that I'd be scared around him and Edward. But there were no reactions whatsoever. Frankly, I tried as best as possible not to scare them. My nightmares would haunt me eternally but I've been hiding the tears and the screams from them.

Right after my cast was removed, I went to the music store with Esme and bought a guitar, an electronic piano and a Mac laptop—yeah, it's really pricey but I have a lot of money left over, which Charlie never knew about—with a composing program installed inside. All of those things mostly broke me but I was also looking for a part time job. Esme was against it but I told her that it was the right thing to do. I wanted to feel right living with them, to be able to pay my own way.

I still wasn't ready to go to school, and certainly not ready to have those kids stare at me and cause rumours—which must have been going on for weeks. During my time off of school, Alice, Edward and even Angela had brought me my homework. Well, maybe not Angela but she gave it to Alice to hand it to me, which was really nice of her. That was during the night. During the day, I'd taught myself how to play guitar, both acoustic and electric. Ok, you must be thinking that I can't afford all of that, especially with Charlie and all. Well, the truth is that I've been saving up my allowance ever since I can remember. In the end, if you look at it the way I do, I've got about three thousand dollars saved up. And now, well, it's all gone towards my dream.

One day, Alice came into my room as I just finished writing my new song. Looking up, I smiled at her and said: "Hey Ali, what's up?"

"How are you feeling?" She asked while gliding over to my bed, sitting right beside me.

Chuckling, I closed my eyes and went back to my computer, looking once more at the song before finalising it. "You ask me that every single day."

"That's because I'm worried. You're my best friend Bells," She said in the saddest voice I ever heard. Looking up at her, I saw that Alice tried to smile but was very unsuccessful. Ever since Charlie had stabbed me, Alice has been worried sick about me, thinking that something horrible would happen again.

"I know, you're my best friend to Ali, but think about it. He wouldn't dare hurt me if I was surrounded by friends. And you've all been making sure of that. You don't need to worry about me Alice, I'll be fine," I assured her, hoping that my words would be true. She wrapped her arms around me and it felt nice to be close to her good vibes. It helped me calm down.

"I'll keep that in mind. So, what'cha working on?" She asked, always intrigued in what I created. I shrugged and started pressing buttons until the music started playing. Alice thumped to the beat and a smile came onto her face. "This is amazing! I can't believe you wrote that!" Alice exclaimed as she kept bobbing her head to the beat.

I stopped the song and a smile erupted on my face. "Thanks. I feel right about this song. It's been in my mind ever since I came here. You guys were kind of my inspiration, you could say," I answered honestly. Alice's face beamed up and she hugged me fiercely.

"I'm so happy to hear that! Now we have a real reason to celebrate tonight!" She beamed happily.

"We're celebrating what exactly? I wrote a song, big whoop," I answered sarcastically.

"Well, frankly, we're just going to a karaoke restaurant but that's beside the point. We just—"

"Is there a certain reason why we're going to a karaoke restaurant?" I asked sceptically, never sure what Alice was planning in that small head of yours.

"It used to be a tradition of ours when we lived in San Francisco. Once every two weeks, Dad would have this night off and we'd go and celebrate with singing and supper. So, we were thinking of going to Seattle and sing like crazy," She explained, raising her arms in the air at the end happily. Well, you can't break traditions.

"Alright, what time are we leaving?"

"Right now!" She said, grabbing my wrist and dragging me off the bed carefully and through the door. Great, obviously I was being dragged there and forced to go. Maybe Alice would make me sing as well… perfect.

It took us a while to get ready—Rosalie was apparently getting her makeup done while we were in the car—but we finally left and, in just a few minutes, we arrived at The Sing Star Restaurant. I was told this place was a great hit. Of course, Charlie would never let me go anywhere so, I wasn't aware of this place. But Tanya and the plastic witches kept talking about it in the hallways and seemed to go to it often. Hopefully, they wouldn't be going tonight. I couldn't handle having them there. They would probably embarrass me in front of everyone.

"Welcome to The Sing Star Restaurant. Do you have a reservation?" A waitress named Sandy asked with a large smile plastered on her face. She kept looking at Edward with interest written all over her face. Somehow, a pang of jealousy erupted in me. What was that all about? Did… did I want to be with Edward?

"Yes, under Cullen," Carlisle said as she looked down on her reservation list. Sandy looked back at Carlisle and smiled before waving her arm towards the stage.

"Right this way, Mr. Cullen." We followed Sandy towards our table in the middle of the restaurant. We all sat down, most of us paired up into couples. Esme and Carlisle, then Emmett and Rosalie—yes, she brought him along, and Alice brought Jasper. Big surprise—Alice and Jasper, and then Edward and I were sitting right beside one another. He kept flashing those wonderful smiles of his as the waitress took our drink order.

Just as we got settled, Esme stood up and went to the washroom. It seemed quite odd that Rosalie winked at her mother before she left. What was that all about? I wanted to ask Rosalie what the secret between her and Esme was but Alice interrupted me by asking: "So, anyone ready to sing tonight? I say that Bella should sing something."

"Oh no! I'm not going up there," I retorted, raising my hands defensively.

"Fine, how about I sing with you? It won't be that bad."

"Alright, I guess I could do that…" I said, defeated but Alice beamed me a smile that no one could refuse. Emmett and Rosalie had decided to sing as well, Jasper and Alice, Emmett and Jasper, and Edward. Carlisle and Esme weren't going to sing at all. What a shame. I would have loved to hear them sing the two of them together as a couple.

"So Bella, what time do you think that you're coming back to school? I miss ya!" Emmett whined with his childish voice and, most of all, his childish face. Man, what a kid he was! And who could resist that puppy dog pout of his? Rosalie placed an arm through his and leaned into him. They were such a lovely couple.

Placing a hand on my cheek and resting against it, I closed my eyes and thought about that before answering. "I don't know. I'm getting better so…" Emmett did the puppy dog pout again and I chuckled softly. "Maybe tomorrow or something."

"Yay! Bella's coming back to school!" He chimed with happiness that I couldn't help laughing at. He was such a child.

"Don't try to rush into things, Bella. Are you sure you're ready to go back to school?" Carlisle asked, his tone going into doctor mode. Of course he'd say that. Ever since Charlie came back, he'd been checking up on me and trying to help my injuries. In the past few weeks, I noticed something about Esme and Carlisle that filled my heart with warmth. They were the parents I wished I had. Don't get me wrong, no one could replace Mom but Charlie… Carlisle was a much better father. "You can still go after—"

"I'm sorry Carlisle, but I feel right about going back to school. Sure, I might get a lot of horrible looks and some people might bite my head off, but I need to catch up on the lessons and all that. After all, colleges want to see this year's marks more than next year's, so I need to get back into it," I explained, thinking that my grades were going to start slipping if my tests weren't going to get done.

"Alright, if you're sure," Carlisle said, eyeing me one last time. I gave him a positive smile, even though my gut told me something else. Tanya would surely be all over me tomorrow.

"I'm positive."

"Alright Bella, time to sing 'til we drop!" Alice said while grabbing my wrist and gently pulling me towards the stage. What's the worst that could happen? Alice grabbed two microphones and handed one to me. Unfortunately, she had already picked a song for us. Put it in a love song by Alicia Keys was the song she had picked for us to sing. It was quite ironic. Beyoncé features in this song and our initials were the same as the artists.

Alice started singing and, I have to admit, she had a wonderful voice! All eyes were on her. It almost didn't feel right to sing along with her. She should have the moment of glory, not have anyone along with her sing this song. Unfortunately, it was technically a duet. I started to sing along and the crowd averted their eyes to me. Alice still had a smile on her face and we were undeniably good. Jasper and Emmett's eyes had bulged out the moment they heard us sing. Edward looked at me with lust in his eyes. Wait, lust? Maybe I was just imagining things. He would never want to go out with a woman that had such a horrible past.

We came off the stage after the song and went to sit with the others. "Whoa… Bellsy's got some skills!" Emmett said while giving me a high five. He really was sweet. It didn't even look like he was in his senior year, more like he could pass for an extremely large eight grader with the way he acts.

"Thanks, now how about we eat? I'm starving!" I exclaimed and, the exact moment I made my exclamation, the food was delivered. And it was good. Well, not as good as Esme's cooking but a very close second.

Rosalie and Emmett had performed Starstrukk by 3OH3! and Katy Perry. Frankly, they had performed it well. Rosalie had some good vocal skills but Emmett… let's just say his voice was extremely hoarse when using a microphone. Jasper and Ali were next. They performed Two is better than one by Boys like Girls and featuring Taylor Swift. Of course Alice had the beautiful voice and, surprisingly, Jasper had an amazing voice. They looked so beautiful together. Afterwards, it Emmett and Jasper's turn. They did Break your heart by Taio Cruz and Ludacris. It was an amazing song and well… the two guys together made it sound alright. They tried to look gangster but it wasn't working at all. Actually, it was really funny.

But what took my breath away was Edward singing. He performed Perfect by Hedley, one of my favourite bands. He knew exactly what to do to make my heart stop. His voice was like bells. Edward's voice was perfect, just like the title of the song. His green orbs never left mine while he was on stage, as if he was directing the song to me.

"He's so amazing…" I whispered mostly to myself.

"Edward mostly sings when he performs on the piano. It's hard to get him out here like this. Surprising, this time, he just got up there and sang. It's like he wants to impress you," Alice said with a wink. I rolled my eyes at her and looked at Edward as he finished. Once again, he smiled that crooked smile of his and my heart stopped beating for a few seconds.

"What did you think?" Edward asked once sitting down.

"You were incredible." My response was immediate and without hesitation. It was the truth.

"Thank you," Edward said before directing his attention to the stage and smiled. What was that? I looked in that direction and saw that the manager of the restaurant had taken a mike and directed his attention to the restaurant.

"Alright folks, we've got a brand new event happenin' today. A songwriter's in the house and she's going to perform her new song, Wakin' up to love!" The manager said and my eyes bulged out. Oh no… Who could have done this? I looked at the Cullens and Esme, Rosalie and Alice were smiling at me. Oh god! Why?!

"You didn't…" I whispered to them but they all just shrugged. Sighing, I placed my head on my arms and tried to ignore everyone around me. How could they have done this to me? They knew I wasn't ready to do this!

"Give it up for Bella Swan!" The manager said and everyone started clapping and cheering. Placing my hands on my head, I blocked them out, going to my happy place. Mom and I were on the beach, Dad was building a sand castle with me, we were all happy and having a great time. We were a family.

"Bella? They're calling for you," Esme said sweetly, placing a hand on my arm and bringing me back to Earth. They all had encouraging smiles on their faces and now, I had to do this. I couldn't disappoint them.

Getting up sheepishly, I went towards the stage and felt someone behind me. Turning around, I saw Edward try to reassure me with his smile. I dragged him aside and said: "I can't do this. They'll laugh at me."

Edward closed his eyes and placed both of his hands on my cheeks, forcing me to look in his eyes. "You will do great out there. Just think of one thing. That's my trick. Think or look at one thing or person and focus on that. It'll help you get through it," He assured and I smiled. How could one man be so perfect? Edward brought me into his arms and whispered in my ear: "You can do this. You're an amazing person Hun. They'll love you out there."

"Thanks…" I answered as he let me go and smiled at me.

"Good luck!" He shouted as I went on the stage and prepared myself for the worst. Everyone was looking at me. Their piercing eyes were staring straight through me. Sweat started to pour down my forehead slowly as I looked at the crowd. Turning my head towards the Cullen table, I saw Edward looking at me and mouthing: "You can do it," to me. A smile came upon my face and the music started to play. Alice probably went on my computer and took the song from my file. Damn her… The music started to play and I sang along to it. I focused all of my attention on the Cullens as I sang.

The song symbolized love and happiness, that's what the Cullens brought upon my life. Every day, I would wake up and be worry-free. No Charlie to wake up at, no beatings everyday, nothing at all. Only love and understanding. The Cullens had given me a life and I was able to live to the fullest with them.

Once the song ended, everyone in the room was clapping and cheering to the fullest. The Cullens were happier than ever. Esme had tears to her eyes, so did Rosalie and Alice. Emmett was bouncing like a child in his chair and cheering in his manly voice. Edward whistled with his fingers and made me smile. He could do anything that guy. They really did care for me.

I walked down the stage and something caught my eye outside the restaurant. A man with scruffy hair was looking at me with sickening eyes. My eyes widened at the sight of him. Charlie… He'd found me. I stood frozen there, looking at the sickening man outside. His sickening smile widened and he took a knife out of his pocket for one second before someone passed by the window and Charlie was gone. I was still standing there, shocked.

"Bella? Bella, what's wrong?" Edward asked me, standing in front of me worriedly as he placed his hands on my shoulders protectively.

"Ch… Ch… Charlie…" was the only word I said. Edward's body stiffened and he wrapped his arms around me.

"Everything will be alright. He can't hurt you. We're not going to let him get to you," Edward said as he brought me over to the table. The rest hadn't asked about my shocked expression. Edward must have told them not to ask but they all congratulated me on the song. They seemed very impressed. Although their compliments helped me, my mind couldn't forget about the man that had just stood in front of that window, the man that haunted my nights and haunted my past.

Charlie was everywhere and would get me one day. If I wasn't careful, that day would be sooner than later.

So what did you think? I know, I took the song from the Neutrogena commercial but I love it. And it makes sense. But Charlie's back and he's armed. OHHHHH!!! I know the people in the restaurant could have seen him but they were too busy paying attention to Bella than to Charlie. Ha! So, the next chapter will talk about Bella's first day at school. So REVIEW to read the next chapter soon!!!

Bellacullenswan17

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