A/N: This is it, people. The disclosure you've been waiting for. I'm issuing a trigger warning for this chapter.

Chapter-8: Healing Touch

The incessant knock on the door wakes her up from her afternoon nap. "I'm coming! I'm coming! Sheesh!" she grumbles as she opens the door to reveal none other than her father's best friend, Jacob Black. "Uncle Jake!" she greets the man with graying black hair. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, Bells," Jacob replies, stepping into the house and closing the door behind him. "You and your mom doing okay?"

Isabella bites her lip, trying to contain the tears that threaten to spill over at the thought of life without her recently deceased father. "Uh huh," is all she manages to say.

"Good, good." Jacob takes off his jacket and lays it on the couch behind her. Looking at her, he asks, "Where's Reneé at?"

"At the ballet academy," she answers. "She's not been keeping well lately, but I know being there makes her happy so I couldn't ask her to stay in."

Jacob nods. "It's good that she's doing what she enjoys." He takes a seat and pats next to him, asking her to follow his suit. When she does, he reaches over to take one of her hands. "Bells, I wanted to tell you something."

Startled by his sudden actions, she blinks. "What?"

For a few seconds, he doesn't speak. Then he reaches to tuck a stray strand of her hair behind her ear, his touch suddenly making her feel uncomfortable. "Uncle Jake, what are you …?"

"Shh ..." he shushes her, placing a finger on her lips then he uses the finger to trace them, making her skin crawl. "You've grown up into a beautiful woman, Bells," he says softly. "A very desirable woman."

The sound of her sharp intake of breath seems to make him smile. He caresses her cheek and says, "I want you, Bells. I care for you."

His touch makes her snap out of shock and she jumps up from her seat on the couch. "You're out of your mind!" she finally manages to say. "I think you should leave."

He stands up then, standing so close to her that she can smell the stench of alcohol in his breath. "Don't push me away," he tells her. "No one will ever want you. Look at you. You're an orphan … a college dropout with a mother who can't go two minutes without bawling her eyes out. If you choose me, I'll take care of you. I'll make sure that you never want for anything."

Slowly, he leans down, bringing his lips close to hers. Turning her head away from him, she pushes against his chest … hard. "Get away from me, you disgusting pig," she screams, her shove making him fall down.

That seems to make him angry. "You fucking bitch!" he roars, scrambling back up and grabbing her by the neck. She feels his hand pressing down on her windpipe, trying to choke the life out of her. "If you won't give it to me, I'll fucking take it," he spat in her face, his other hand busy hiking up her skirt.

"No! No … no … please ..." her voice is a mangled cry as she tries to defend herself.

His ring catches on the fabric of her skirt and when he pulls hard to free his hand, the metal gashes across her thigh, sending a searing pain through her body.

God please, she prays, closing her eyes. Save me from this monster.

She wakes up in cold sweat, her pillow soaked with tears. Placing her hand over her racing heart, she tries to reassure herself that she's safe, but it doesn't work. The memories too vivid … too painful to be erased that easily.

"Bella? Baby?" The whisper-soft voice in her ear is what manages to calm her down.

Edward, she remembers. He's here. He stayed over after the movie last night.

A tentative hand comes to rest on her arm, it's heat searing through her body and pushing away the memories of those cold clammy hands from long ago. "Bella?" Edward calls her name again. "You awake?"

Slowly, she turns her head to find his eyes boring down into hers, worry lines marring his forehead.

"It was a bad dream," she says, more to herself than to him. "Just a bad dream."

Something in her face seems to let him know about her vulnerability at that moment. He moves to place a kiss on her temple. "I'm here with you." Those words are exactly what she needs. Instead of pushing her to talk, he just lets her know that she's not alone and that makes her fall just a little more for this man.

A sudden need to share her life with him encompasses her and before the walls around her heart can make her stop, she starts talking. "It wasn't a dream exactly. Just a bad memory," she says, her eyes focused unseeingly on a point over his shoulder.

"Bella, you don't have to tell me ..." he starts, but she shakes her head.

"This is part of who I am, and you need to know it to understand why I am the way I am."

"Okay."

After his acquiescence, she starts speaking, trying to keep herself aloof from all those emotions. "Jacob Black used to be my dad's friend. I used to call him Uncle Jake. After dad died, mom couldn't stand to be in the house alone. She got under severe depression. So I quit college and came home to be with her. One day, mom was at the ballet academy where she taught a course when Black came over. I trusted him because he was my dad's best friend, you know? So I let him in. But then he started to come onto me."

"Fuck!"

She ignores his soft cursing and continues, desperate to get the words out. "I tried to push him away and that just made him more mad. He … he hit me. And it hurt so much," she stops talking, bile rising to her throat.

"Shit! Baby!" Edward's hands squeeze hers, grounding her. "Did he …?"

At his unspoken question, she shakes her head, carefully extracting herself from his arms, needing the distance. "No, he didn't get the chance. My mom came home to find him before ..." she swallows thickly. "... before he could hurt me more. She pulled him off of me and then threw him out the door. I remember her sobbing before everything turned black."

For a moment, there is silence in the room. A part of her wonders if he'll be repelled by her now that he knew the truth. Another part—a much bigger part—knew that her Edward isn't conceited like that. So taking a deep breath to keep the panic at bay, she calls his name. "Edward?"

"Is he alive?"

His question confuses her. "I don't know. Mom moved us here after that and then she fell sick and I never felt like finding out. Why?"

"Because I'm going to kill that bastard for hurting my girl," he says, his voice completely serious.

"Your girl?" she repeats, her heart soaring at the thought.

He nods, his eyes finding hers. "Yes, you are my girl. Just mine. And anyone who hurts my girl has to answer to me."

"Then you're not disgusted by me?" she hates how insecure she sounds, but he dashes it away immediately. "Disgusted? Bella, I'm in awe of you. Your bravery, your strength, the purity of your heart … I'm in love with it. I'm in love with you."

She feels her eyes fill with tears at his declaration. "You love me?"

He reaches for her hand, bringing it to his lips. "With every cell of my being. I admire you. I adore you, and yes, I love you, Isabella Swan."

She wraps her free hand around his neck and pulls him down to her, bringing their lips together and kisses him passionately. "Love me, Edward," she whispers against his lips. "Take away his touch from my body and make me yours. Please."

He lifts his head to look at her for a moment. Whatever he sees seems to ignite a fire within him. He kisses her again before moving to kiss every bit of her skin he can reach. Soon his lips and hands are everywhere on her body, awakening her in a way she never had before. She feels his lips caress the mark on her thigh, kissing it, taking away the pain and leaving only pleasure.

When he finally enters her, bringing them together for the first time, Isabella feels his soul touch hers. He loves her slowly, reverently, erasing every bad memory and replacing it with sweet ones. When she falls apart in his arms, she realizes that she was wrong. She's not been falling for Edward, no, she's already in love with this man.

As the waves of pleasure ebb, she opens her eyes. With a smile on her face, she tells him, "I love you, Edward Cullen. You made me whole again."

A/N: Only the Epi left now. Share your thoughts with me and leave a review?

Thanks for reading.

Granma Dee, hope you're ready for that HEA.

Take care.

Ann