Edward POV

"I am very disappointed in all of you. I cannot believe you went to a party like that!" I heard a high voice yell. "And Emmett! To take both of your younger siblings with you! I would have thought you would have cared more than to let Edward get drunk that badly!"

"Esme." I heard my dad warn. Then he sighed. "What your mother is trying to say is that we have always trusted you guys and we have always given you the utmost freedom to do as you please. However, with that freedom comes responsibility and we feel as if you've just abused our freedom."

"Oh come on! We're teenagers and it was a party! No one got hurt! We even designated Alice to drive so we were smart there! None of us even drank that much! Only Edward actually got drunk and thats cause he's depressed! But the rest of us-"

"I'm not depressed." I finally spoke, opening my eyes to see what was in front of me. I was lying on the couch, Alice and Emmett were seated in the chairs, and my parents were standing in front of them scolding them. They all looked at me, dead silent. "What, you guys think I'm depressed?"

"Honey.." my mom said, walking over to me and feeling my head. "How do you feel? Here drink this water. Theres a trash can here too if you need it."

"I'm fine mom." I said, pushing her away gently. "Do you guys really think I'm depressed?" I asked again.

"Well, Edward no one else was as terribly drunk as you. You're not like that- you're usually the most level headed out of all of us! And it was just scary cause it seemed like you just kept drinking to escape the pain or whatever you've been feeling and-"

"I'm not depressed." I interrupted.

"Honestly bro, stop being such a hard head and admit it! All you've done for the past few months is just moped around and sat doing nothing. It's like you're not even here and its weird as-"

"I'm not depressed!" I said, standing. It was a bad idea though because my head spun and i had to fall back down to the couch, where I put my head into my hands.

"Okay fine. You're not depressed." My dad spoke. I didn't even move from my position as he continued to speak. "We just all care so much about you. And Emmett is right- you aren't you anymore. You're just a shell."

"I'm not me anymore?" I said, looking up. "So what, Bella gets taken and you expect me to just go on as normal like everything is the same? Well it's not the same! It never will be as long as she's gone!"

"Edward we are all hurting from being without Bella. But you have to accept that she might not come home! This might be life from now on and we don't want to watch you live it like this! We've all accepted that and its terrible but you have to too!"

"So you think she's gone?! You honestly think that she will never come home, that we'll never find her?!"

"Edward, of course we don't. We want Bella back more than anything! But what your father is trying to say is that in life you have to hope for the best, but expect the worst!" My mother said.

"She's coming home." was the only phrase in my head I could form into words. I leaned back against the couch and looked around the room. My Father was still staring at me, mom had her face in her hands, Emmett stared at the floor, and Alice stared into her lap, tears silently falling down her cheeks. It stayed silent for a few minutes before Alice finally spoke.

"You weren't the only one who lost someone that day Edward." she said softly. Then she slowly stood up, stared me in the eye, and left the room. I stared after her, speechless, only one thought in my head. Maybe I am depressed.

Bella POV

Maybe this is what depression feels like. It's been 8 months here. All I do is shuffle around doing what James tells me to do. I've trained myself to tune out the beatings and rapes to where I barely even notice them anymore. The only things on my mind are home and Edward. Otherwise I feel like I am no longer a person anymore. And I hate it, but this is just my life now.

"CLAIRE!" I heard James yell. I jumped up from my bed where I was trying to take a quick nap and ran downstairs to the living room to find him sitting on the couch.

"Yes?" I squeaked.

"Beer." he said, as he turned back towards the game on the TV. I quickly ran to the kitchen, grabbed two beers, and ran back to him, setting them on the table for him. "Thanks babe. Sit down." he said, and i complied like always. I sat next to him and he put his arm around me, the other holding the beer. We sat like that for a few minutes as he watched the game. He was completely relaxed- I was on edge. I had no idea why but I had the weirdest feeling raging inside my stomach and I finally placed it as fear. But not the usual fear I had. It was different- something new was going to happen.

"Babe?" He asked gently, turning to look at me. Taking a deep breath I turned back to him. We were so close. I could see the blue of his eyes, the stubble on his chin, and could smell the beer on his breath. I held my own breath.

"Yes?"

"I love you." He said with a tipsy smile. I just stared at him, not knowing what to say. A minute went by and I was still staring at him speechless. Nothing had changed, except the goofy look on his face was gone and now he was angered. Great. "Say it back bitch!" he said, slapping me so hard across the face that I fell to the ground.

"I- I.." I began, but I could't force myself to say something that wasn't true. I just looked up at him from the floor as he stood up.

"Why can't you say it? Is it not true for you?!" He said, picking me up by my shirt.

"James, I.." I tried again but the three little words would not escape my lips.

"Fucking whore!" he said, throwing me back to the ground, where he began kicking my side with his steel toed boots. Like I said, normally I was able to zone out and not feel it. But tonight I felt every kick.

"JAMES PLEASE STOP!" I screamed, as I could practically feel my ribs breaking.

"NOT UNTIL YOU LOVE ME!"

"YOU THINK I COULD EVER LOVE YOU WHEN YOU RUINED MY LIFE?!" I screamed. He stopped. I coughed out some blood and looked up at him. He just stood there, staring at me. I slowly stood up, backing away from him until my back touched the wall.

"You. You will never love me?" He asked, looking at me like a hurt puppy.

"No." I said, my voice a lot steadier than i felt. "James you kidnapped me. You force me to be your slave and your lover and thats not love. I will never love you. And you don't even love me. You love yourself."

"No." he said, talking a step towards me, and making my entire body tense up. "I do love you. You don't know how I feel. You're just a silly little girl. You don't even know what love is!"

"I do know what love is." I whispered, the faces of Edward and my parents flashing through my mind. "And I know that this is not love." I said, the words hanging in the air as we stood in complete silence. I never took my eyes away from his face, and I watched as he processed my words. Finally he looked up from the ground, his eyes locking into mine as he stared into my soul.

"You're wrong." He said shaking his head. I began shaking mine, disagreeing with him. Suddenly he yelled and jumped across the room, lunging for me. I screamed and grabbed the empty beer bottle from the shelf, slamming it against his head. The glass shattered and fell to the floor, along with a knocked out James. I stood there, amazed that I actually fought back. I was also afraid to move in case he wasn't knocked out. After a few minutes though I realized he was out, and I ran into the foyer, where I grabbed the first coat I saw and threw it on. I then wrenched open the door, getting my first taste of fresh air in months. It was freezing outside, and I realized then that it was somewhere near Halloween. I took a deep breath of the air, letting it fill my lungs. Then, without looking back, I ran.