Esme's POV

I heard pounding on the door to the apartment, and then Edward's voice called, "Mom, open the door!"

Jumping quickly from the sofa, I moved to the door and opened it to see a terrified-looking Edward, holding Bella in his arms.

"What happened?" I asked. Then I noticed his hand. "What did you do, Edward?" My voice rose with every word.

"I hit the wall," he explained. "I'm okay, but something happened with Bella. I think she passed out."

"Did she hit her head?" I grabbed his arm and gently pulled him inside, shutting the door behind them. "Come in and put her on the sofa."

He walked the few feet to the couch and set her down, smearing blood on the cushion in the process.

"I don't think so," he said. "There wasn't anything around for her to have hit."

Well, that was something, at least.

"Okay, I'll sit with Bella and call your father. You go get cleaned up." He started to argue, but I held up a hand. "Go, Edward. We'll be fine. I'm sure she'll wake up any moment, and you don't want her to see you like that."

He looked down and jerked in shock, like he was just noticing the blood that covered the back of his hand and ran in rivulets down his arm.

"Fuck," he hissed, waving his arm slightly. "Shit, that stings!"

"Language," I admonished. "Now go."

I was already sitting on the coffee table in front of Bella and pulling out my phone to call my husband when Edward left the room.

As the phone rang, I softly brushed Bella's hair away from her face. She was already beginning to stir, and my touch seemed to calm her slightly.

"Hi, sweetheart," Carlisle answered. "Hold on; let me go somewhere a little more quiet."

I chuckled softly, hearing my loud children in the background.

The noise got progressively quieter, until I could barely hear anything, and then my husband spoke again. "All right. I stepped into the car and asked them to wait outside until I was off the phone," he said. "How did it go?"

"It was brutal," I answered honestly. "Actually, I'm calling because Bella fainted. At least, I assume that's what happened. Your son wasn't very forthcoming with the details. They went over to check out her apartment when we got finished at the station, and he came in just now, carrying an unconscious Bella."

Carlisle immediately went into doctor mode. "Did she hit her head?"

"I asked, and he said he didn't think so. There was nothing around for her to hit it on, apparently."

"How's her breathing? Do you see any obvious signs of injury?"

I looked down at Bella again to see her eyes open, staring up at me.

"I'm okay," she murmured. "I think I hyperventilated and passed out from the stress of seeing everything."

I smiled and spoke into the phone again. "She's awake."

"Good. Let me speak to her, if she feels up to it," he told me.

Holding the phone toward her, I asked, "Can you talk to Carlisle, Bella?"

She nodded and took the phone. "Hi, Carlisle."

I could hear him through the phone, but couldn't make out any of the words.

"Uh-huh," Bella answered. "No, no headache and nothing hurts."

I watched as she moved her arms and legs and then tilted her head a couple of times.

More talking from my husband, and then she answered, "I promise. Thanks, Carlisle." She handed the phone back to me. "He wants to talk to you." She glanced around nervously. "Where's Edward?"

I frowned. "In the bathroom. He..." I wasn't sure what to tell her. "He hurt his hand and is cleaning it off."

Bella jumped up. "Thanks."

I watched as she rushed out of the room and then turned my attention back to the phone.

"So how's it going there?" I asked into the phone, ready to take my mind off everything serious for a few minutes.

~*~*~CIBD~*~*~

Bella's POV

As I rushed into Edward's bedroom on the way to the bathroom, I knew whatever had happened to his hand had to have something to do with the loud crash I'd heard back in my apartment. He'd been so calm last night and this morning, but I could tell from the set of his shoulders, the lines on his forehead and around his eyes, and the way he kept touching me like he couldn't bear to be apart, that he was barely holding it together. I'd be surprised if he hadn't seen the chaos that was my bedroom and just lost it.

I could heard his soft curses as I entered the room, and when I walked into the bathroom, I saw him standing at the sink, dabbing at his knuckles with a cotton ball.

"Bella," he said, frowning slightly. "How are you feeling?"

Shaking my head, I answered, "I'm fine. I talked to your dad, and we both think I just hyperventilated and passed out from that and the stress. I promised to go to the ER if I started feeling sick or dizzy." I took the cotton ball from him, added more of the hydrogen peroxide from the open bottle on the counter, and began dabbing at the open wounds on his hand. "I'm more concerned about you right now." Pausing, I continued, "Edward, what in the world happened?"

He looked sheepish. "I, uh, punched the wall."

I rolled my eyes. "That's what I figured." I threw away the cotton ball and held his hand up to my lips. After blowing lightly on the scrapes and cuts, I reached down for a Band-Aid. "Did it make you feel better?" I asked, smirking.

"Mm, little bit," he admitted, grinning. He took the other opened Band-Aid from me and pressed it to the other spot that needed it most while I screwed the lid back on the peroxide and put it back in the cabinet. Then he held his uninjured hand out to me. "Come on. Let's go sit and talk."

"'Kay," I agreed, turning the light off on our way out of the bathroom.

"Want to sit in here, or go back out with my mom in the living room?" he asked, pausing at the bed.

Shrugging, I said, "Let's go out there. No need to leave Esme out there by herself."

He smiled and walked with me out to the sofa, where I sat down between the two of them.

"So...yeah," I started, unsure of how Edward was going to react to the decision I'd made. "After seeing that, there's no way I'm gonna feel comfortable staying there—at least, not for a while. I'm gonna ask Rose and Alice if I can stay with one of them while I look for an apartment."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Esme nod slowly, but my attention was centered on Edward and his reaction.

"Why not move in here?" he asked quietly.

"I guess I just assumed you wouldn't want me to yet. I mean, we've only been dating a few mon—"

He interrupted me with a finger to my lips. "Bella, love, I'd planned to ask you to move in here with me in a few weeks anyway." He shrugged. "We spend almost every night together already, either here or over there, right? That way, we don't have to run back and forth to get clothes and stuff every morning."

"Really?" I asked, feeling my heart pound at the thought of taking a big step forward in our relationship.

He nodded. "Absolutely."

"You don't think we're rushing it?" I knew how much I loved him, and I didn't feel like we were rushing things, but I was worried not only that he would, but also about the reactions from everyone else. "Would that bother your family?"

"No," Edward answered, shaking his head. "I know how I feel, and I believe you feel the same. So no, I don't think we're rushing into anything."

Esme chuckled. "Bella, remind me to tell you the story of how Carlisle and I met sometime, okay? Trust me when I say it wouldn't bother us in the slightest."

I smiled and nodded, tucking that question away to ask at a later date, and then turned back to Edward.

"Okay," I murmured softly, smiling up at him.

He pulled me gently into his lap and wrapped his arms around me, kissing me softly and quickly in deference to his mother being right in front of us.

"I guess we could use my apartment for storage," I mused, thinking aloud.

Edward thought for a moment and then said, "You know what? Sasha mentioned last week that her lease is up at the end of December, and she was gonna be looking for another place."

"You think she'd want to rent my apartment?" I asked curiously.

"I'm sure she would. It's right next door to work and not far from the night classes she takes at the junior college down the road. It's the right size, since it's just her. She's always liked the layout of this apartment, so I know she'd enjoy it over there."

I looked askance at him. "She's been up here?"

He chuckled. "She's worked for me for two years, love. I've sent her up here quite a few times for things I needed downstairs that I forgot, or so she could study while she ate lunch while I gave lessons downstairs, and other things like that."

"Ah." I felt the heat rise in my cheeks, embarrassed because of the irrational jealous streak that had shot through me.

Edward laughed softly and hugged me tighter.

"So uh, anyway, obviously I'm gonna get rid of the furniture in the bedroom." I shuddered just thinking about it. "Should I just leave everything for her?"

Esme looked around the apartment. "I've been trying to get him to get rid of this sofa for a year," she said, looking down and then back up at Edward, rolling her eyes. "Yours is much nicer, Bella. I would suggest bringing over your sofa and bookshelf, at least. But I'd leave the TV stand over there. I think this one will do."

We all looked over at Edward's huge entertainment center and laughed.

"If you want, love," Edward said softly, "you're more than welcome to move all of your living room and dining room furniture in here, and then we could move my stuff over there for Sasha. Your stuff's newer and much nicer than mine, and I want you to feel comfortable and at home."

My heart melted. "I'll definitely think about it, okay? For now, let's plan on at least the sofa and bookshelf."

He nodded.

"Bella," Esme said quietly, "not to bring up a worrisome subject, but Alice passed along a message through Carlisle a few minutes ago."

I raised an eyebrow in question.

"She said not to wait to tell your father about the break-in. If you do, she thinks he'll find out some other way and be more upset about it than if you told him now yourself."

I sighed, knowing Alice was right. "She's right," I admitted. "I'm just really dreading that phone call."

"We'll be right here, Bella," Esme promised, and Edward hugged me tightly for a moment in support.

Sighing again, I pulled out my phone and dialed Charlie's number at work.

It rang twice, and then he answered, "Chief Swan."

"Hey, Dad," I said.

Edward began rubbing his hand soothingly up and down my back, keeping me calm. I smiled gratefully at him.

"Bells!" Charlie said. "How's shopping going?"

I cringed. "Actually, that's kind of why I'm calling. Do you have a minute?"

I heard shuffling in the background, a quiet click—his door closing, I was guessing—and then the creak of his old leather chair as he sat back down.

"I do, Bells," he finally said. "What's going on? Are you okay?"

"We got a phone call around one last night from the Port Angeles PD. Someone broke into my apartment around midnight. When—"

Charlie interrupted with, "Did they catch the jerk? Who was it? What did he take?"

"Slow down," I told him, trying to head him off before he got too worked up. "When the police showed up, they found him in the middle of uh..." I paused, unsure of how to explain it. "He'd used a knife he'd brought with him to cut up a lot of the clothes in my dresser, and he'd hacked up my mattress. He'd also gone through my dresser and was using a piece of my clothing to..."

Shit, this was hard!

"Put Edward on the phone, Bella," my father ordered softly, his voice eerily calm.

"Okay," I squeaked, holding the phone out for Edward to take. "He wants to talk to you."

~*~*~CIBD~*~*~

Edward's POV

"Hello, Char—"

"That son of a bitch got caught with his pants down and my daughter's underwear in his hands, didn't he?" Charlie interrupted.

"Yes, sir," I said softly, tightening my arm around Bella.

I watched my mom scoot over slightly and take Bella's hand, smiling over at her.

"Fuck," Charlie growled, and I heard a loud noise in the background. I knew he'd hit the desk or something, much like I'd done when I saw the bedroom. "Who was he? Was it that bastard Powell?"

"No, sir, but the man who did it—his name is Laurent Moreau—was Powell's cell mate in prison until three months ago, when he was released. Moreau, I mean," I explained. "Powell is still locked up."

"I knew that bastard had to be involved somehow," Charlie ground out. "I should have killed the fucker when I had the chance years ago."

Before he could say anything more, I knew I needed to tell him the rest. "You'll probably be getting a call from a Detective Eli Jordan. From what the police have been able to ascertain so far, Moreau did an Internet search for your name when he couldn't find Bella, and the article about you last year with the...what was it? The Peter Joseph kidnapping case?"

Charlie cursed under his breath, but when he didn't say anything, I continued.

"So he made a trip to Forks and broke into your house. He saw Bella's address there, and that's when he made the trip up here and scared her in the store."

"Shit," he cursed again. "Edward, I..."

He paused, and I could hear him breathing heavily. I waited him out, knowing he wasn't finished.

"How's my daughter, Edward? Really."

"She's doing okay, Charlie," I promised. "She's an amazingly strong woman. My mom came with us to the station this morning and is staying with us until the rest of the family gets back from Seattle."

"Good, good," he said with a sigh. "Do I need to come up there?"

"I don't believe so," I told him. "But that's something you might wanna ask Bella herself. I don't wanna speak for her."

"All right. Put her back on the phone." He paused for a second and then added swiftly, "Edward, thank you, son, for being there for her."

"I wouldn't be anywhere else, sir," I told him honestly. "Here's Bella."

My mom and I listened as Bella persuaded her father that she didn't need him to come up, that I was taking good care of her. She also argued for several minutes that it wasn't his fault.

"Dad, there was no sign of tampering on my door, either. He's good with lock picks. If he didn't disturb anything in the house, you couldn't have known."

She finally sighed, changing the subject to explain about our decision to move her into my apartment and rent out hers. From the lack of rising voices and long explanations and arguments, I knew Charlie wasn't putting up a fight.

"Yes, I'll call if I need you, Dad," Bella said into the phone, smiling patiently. There was a pause, and then she swallowed hard, and I watched her eyes tear up when she replied, "Love you, too. Bye."

She hung up the call and chuckled. "Well, at least he's not arguing about us moving in together."

My mom nodded and said, "He had to have known it was coming sooner or later, Bella. I've seen him in town a few times, and we've spoken about the two of you. He knows how serious you are."

We were all quiet for several minutes, and then I asked, "Is anyone hungry? It's about lunchtime. I could run and get some food and a few movies for us to watch until the rest of the family gets home, if you want."

"Mmm, Thai," Bella said, nodding. "Getting movies sounds good, too, if that's okay with Esme."

"Thai and movies sound perfect," my mother agreed, smiling at Bella. "We can talk more about what furniture should go where while Edward goes and gets it. Sound good?" she asked Bella.

"Perfect," Bella answered, smiling the first real, happy smile since before the phone call the night before.