A/N: 11 reviews so far. I think I will keep on going with the story because I have writer's block for my other one. One thing you have to note though is that I will not be explaining the 'incident' in full until Bella tells Edward, you will get references and flashbacks but not the whole story. Have fun creating theories on what happened!

I have decided to put the date on every chapter so it is easier to follow. The last chapter was September 2nd (Bella's first day at Forks High), the incident happened on July 22nd, and this chapter continues on from the last one.

Sept 2nd Part 2

Bella Swan

I sat in the toilets long after the bell had rang.

Every few minutes I looked at myself, willing for my appearance to change or alter slightly to make me look normal again. I had a sinking feeling that I had looked like this for a long time, before the incident even. That scared me a little because inside I felt ok, numb, but normal enough.

Two hours after lunch had ended, the door opened. I was locked in a stall but I still tucked my feet under me and hugged my bag to my chest. The person walked about for a bit before calling out.

'Bella? Are you in here?'

I couldn't recognise the voice. A pair of feet clad in designer flats appeared below the stall door.

'Bella, it's me, Alice Cullen. Edward asked me to come and find you, the teachers have been wondering where you had gone to and the nurse excuse only works for one period,' she was speaking in a friendly tone and I could remember her as the bubbly, energetic pixie that enjoyed spending more money than a seven year old should on accessories.

'Bella, just open the stall door and let me in. I swear not to take you by force.'

I recalled the memory of a three foot Alice throwing a five foot Emmett to the floor, over who had control of the remote control. Smiling slightly at the pleasant memory, I reached over and hesitantly unlocked the door.

There stood the now barely five foot tall Alice, with the same black spiky hair.

'Hey,' she said as she walked in, 'We have three options but you would only like two.'

She slid down gracefully and wrapped her arms around her knees.

'Option one is we go and see the nurse, making up some excuse to get you home. Option two is I go back to Ms Vane and tell her you're sick and want another ten minutes in the toilet. Personally I think the first one is best because you look really pale but if you want to go back to class, then the second one will work,' she chattered on endlessly leaving no room for my silent answer.

'Which do you think?'

She looked at me expectantly and waited for me to pull out the notepad. I wrote a great big '1' on the page and her eyes lit up. From what I could barely remember, this was not a good thing.

'Ok,' the bell rang as she spoke, 'crap! You have Clapp now, this is going to be harder than expected… Hold on just one minute.'

She got up and ran to the door of the toilets. Once she had gone I closed and locked the stall again.

'…Just two seconds, that will be all it will take.'

'But Alice, it's the girls bathroom.'

'So? It's also Bella.'

'Fine, but you owe me.'

The door opened and two people walked in. Alice stood in front of the stall again.

'Bella, you can come out now, we have to work this out.'

I reluctantly stood and opened the door. Alice pulled me out of the stall and I froze with the contact. My body started to shudder and I desperately tried to keep all sound from escaping my lips. I backed away from Alice and ended up banging into the wall. The image of a fist raised in front of me flashed though my mind.

'Bella, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to scare you,' she looked like she was about to cry.

I took a couple of deep breaths and the shaking slowed. I had a strong feeling it would be a while before it stopped completely.

My eyes wandered from Alice to the person standing behind her. Edward looked at me with extreme concern, as if I was about to die. He smiled slightly when I looked at him.

'I know, I can't believe I'm in the girls bathroom either,' he said jokingly.

Alice assumed her controlling stance again and spun around to face Edward.

'You're in music now, aren't you?'

He looked at her cautiously before nodding.

'So you're beside the gym for this period.'

He nodded again.

'And you were in Bella's last two classes.'

He nodded, opening his mouth to speak but closed it quickly.

'So, if Bella was sick then she would have told you. You would have seen her exit this bathroom and go to the gym, fainting along the way. You would run to her, bring her to the nurse and get her brought home, correct?

We all knew where this was going. Edward nodded and spoke up before Alice took a breath.

'Are you ok with this Bella?'

I started nodding but ended up shaking my head. My shuddering had almost stopped, going home now would only draw more unwanted attention to me. If I went home then Charlie would wonder if I was really sick, and then tomorrow everyone would be asking if I was alright.

'So you want to go back to class?'

I nodded. Alice smiled and danced out the door.

'Um, Alice? How are you going to explain being ten minutes late to class?'

She turned around and placed her hands on her hips.

'I have Jefferson now. You know how big a soft touch he is.'

'Yes but ten minutes is a lot considering how many late's you got last year.'

She smiled again.

'Let's just say it will be easy to create an excuse.'

Edward looked at her for an answer.

'He gets embarrassed when you mention the term 'girl troubles'. I have a feeling I'll get most of the class off to go to the nurse.'

She skipped out the door leaving me with a very disgusted Edward.

'That's just… nasty. The poor guy was tortured by her last year and now this?'

He grabbed my bag from it's place in the stall and opened the door for me. We walked out of the dry toilets and into the damp mist that had descended on the school.

I took out the notepad and quickly scribbled a note onto it.

How are we going to explain being so late?

He smirked and took the pen from me.

Easy, Coach Clapp loves us Cullens. Emmett is the star football player, Alice was head cheerleader before she realised how much shopping time practice took up and I used to be good at track. I'll just tell him you felt sick and ran into the bathroom and I waited to see if you were ok. My music teacher is cool and won't mind me being late.

He finished writing his note quicker than the time it took for me to write mine. I was amazed at his perfect penmanship.

We arrived at the gym and he led me in. I kept good two feet between us at all times and I was very aware that after what had happened with Alice, having 'male contact' might be worse. Maybe the psychiatrist was right…

'Ah, now who do we have here?'

Coach Clapp was another middle-aged male teacher, who seemed a little overweight to be a gym teacher. He eyed both me and Edward up as we walked towards him.

'Mr Cullen, I don't recall you being in this class.'

Edward placed my bag beside me on the ground and shook his head.

'No, I'm meant to be in music now, but Bella,' he pointed at me and gave Coach Clapp the envelope and paper, 'was feeling sick all day so when she ran into the bathroom earlier, I waited to see if she was alright.'

Coach nodded and wrote a note quickly on the paper in the envelope. He signed the sheet and handed both back to me.

'Well Edward, you should get back to class. Ms Swan, you can sit down with the rest of the class. If you still feel sick next gym lesson just bring a note excusing yourself and I have no problem letting you sit out.'

He said everything to me as if I was some incompetent four year old. I nodded and walked over to the bleachers lining one of the gym's walls. I sat as far away from the rest of my class as I could.

'Hey Bella!'

I cringed at that voice. Mike jumped out of his seat and ran down to where I was sitting.

'Do you want to sit with us, you seem all alone down here.'

I didn't have to look up to see that some of his friends didn't want me to sit with them. I shook my head, begging for him to go away.

'Ok… hey, there's this group thing that we are having soon to kick off the new school year. A bunch of us are going to go down to the beach when the weather's good. You want to come?'

I shook my head. Mike looked like a toddler who had just been denied a treat.

'Oh, ok. Well you can still sit with us if you want.' He reached over and patted my shoulder.

I couldn't help it. I screamed. Pushing myself away from Mike, I fell off the edge of the bleachers and thumped onto the floor. A panic attack threatened to break through my carefully placed boundaries as memories pounded through my head.

… 'I don't care if you can't do it, at least make a somewhat decent attempt, you useless piece of crap.'

I backed away from the raised hand and ended up knocking down the pot of sauce on the burner. Ignoring the burns searing through my shoulder, I kept backing away from him, keeping a close eye on the fist that was ready to come crashing down on me.

'What's going on in here?'

He turned around and faced the new arrival. His anger was still raging as he pushed her out of the door.

'We have to talk,' he growled…

My chest heaved as I pulled myself back into the present.

'No…no no…no,' was all I whimpered as I pushed myself aimlessly against the wall behind me.

'Everybody back into your seats,' the Coach's voice boomed throughout the gym, 'Bella? Can you hear me?'

Whispers started growing but I couldn't decipher what was being said. Some people started to shout out things like 'call 911' or 'someone get the nurse'. Coach Clapp turned around.

'Mike sit down! Everyone stay quiet. Now I want you all to go outside onto the field and sit quietly until I come out. Eric, you're in charge of keeping them under control.'

I heard the sounds of everyone leaving the gym but my eyes wouldn't break from Mike until he had gone. As soon as the door closed, I slumped in exhaustion. Coach Clapp kept a good distance between us and looked at me nervously. He waited until my breathing was nearly back to normal before talking to me.

'Do you want me to get the nurse?'

I shook my head wanting everything to get back to normal. He smiled at me.

'The bell will go in a few minutes. Do you want to wait here until the end of the day or do you want me to get someone to bring you home?'

I held up a finger for the first option and he stood, walking silently outside. I let my eyes flow freely as I curled up on the floor. My body was still shaking and there was no doubt that I was in no condition to walk, let alone drive home.

The door slammed open and I sat up, whimpering uselessly.

'Bella?'

Edward's voice called though the gym until he seem me lying on the ground. He ran over to me but slowed down until he was about a foot away from me. He sat down and I noticed how distraught he looked.

'We were let out early from music and I seen everyone from this class on the field. Mike told me what happened,' his voice grew into a snarl as he said Mike's name, 'you seemed to certainly scare him. He just kept on apologising to me for no reason.'

He looked at me softly and I was surprised by how much pain was in eyes.

'Are you ok?' he whispered.

I debated lying but something told me that was a bad idea. I shook my head and broke down into sobs. He laid his hand on the floor and my hand inched out to it.

When they touched, there was no pain, no flashbacks, nothing. Edward smiled at me and pulled out a packet of tissues which I gratefully accepted. He sat there, holding my hand, until I stopped crying.

I wiped my face one last time and looked out the windows near the ceiling. It had grown considerably darker since I had last looked out. I checked the time on my watch and was embarrassed that I had kept Edward here for over two hours. He noticed me looking embarrassed.

'It's ok.'

He stood and helped me up, not breaking our contact. I went to grab my bag only to realise Edward had it. He gently pulled me out of the gym and into the parking lot. There were only two cars left, my truck and a Volvo. I started towards my truck only to be pulled away. Edward chuckled.

'There is no way I am letting you drive home, firstly you are in no fit state to drive alone and secondly it's dark and the roads here are dangerous enough even when you know them well.'

I allowed him to walk me over to his car and help me in, my knees were still stiff from being curled up for so long and my legs were weak. I wondered where Alice and Emmett were, didn't they get a ride with Edward because they live together?

'Everyone rode home with Rosalie, they get a bit impatient when left for more than two minutes, hence the reason I have my own car. It's a bit frustrating when your left at school because your lesson ran five minutes late.'

He smiled again at me and I smiled back. His eyes sparkled a bit when I smiled. I looked at him questionably. He shrugged.

'That's the first time I've seen you smile properly all day.'

We were halfway to my house and I was surprised he knew the way after all these years. A beeping noise starting coming from speakers in the dashboard. The display above the radio read 'Incoming Call: Dad' He pressed a button.

'Hello?'

'Edward, are you on your way home?'

The unmistakable voice of Carlisle Cullen filled the car.

'Yes, Bella was just feeling unwell so I stayed with her.'

Carlisle laughed nervously.

'Hello Bella. That's good, I'm after having Charlie ringing the hospital asking where she was. Alice came home and told Esme you two had met Bella earlier today. I figured that the two of you must be together because you both hadn't arrived home yet. I'll just call him back to let him know you're on your way.'

'Ok, thanks. See you later.'

'Bye.'

Edward pressed another button and the call disconnected. I hung my head in my hands. Great, now Charlie was worried about me.

The ride was silent until Edward stopped in front of my house. I shuffled uncomfortably in my seat, feeling his gaze on me, knowing that he wanted to talk to me before I went inside.

'Bella. I heard Mike saying earlier that…' I looked up when he paused and seem some form of hope in his eyes behind the amount of pain that had almost disappeared from earlier. He took a deep breath and continued.

'I heard Mike saying that you talked earlier in gym.' He continued to hold my gaze, searching for something that he couldn't find.

'It's just that, and I know I had no right to do it and I apologise, when I read the letter it said that you would not trust male contact and that you would not talk.'

He paused again and was searching in my eyes once more.

'It seemed earlier that it was ok for you to hold my hand but when Mike touched you, you freaked out and started to mumble 'no'.'

I stared at him, communicating that he should get to the point.

'I understand that something happened, but why do you not trust yourself to talk.'

His words were deliberately spoken to get a reaction and my hand flew to my mouth as soon as he got it.

'Because of will happen to me if I do.'

He sat staring at me and I noticed his eyes changing. Victory, sadness and anger all passed through before they returned to normal. I slumped back against the seat and banged my head against the head rest.

Almost seven weeks I had lasted and in the space of a day he had gotten me to speak. I knew that he had done something wrong to get me to talk and that I should distance myself from him. I turned around and grabbed my bag from the backseat and opened the door.

'Bella wait!'

I slammed the door and jogged up the path, only to be stopped by Edward. I pulled against his grip and refused to face him.

'Bella why are you punishing yourself?'

I pulled against him once more but it was no use, he was strong but I was extremely weak so very little strength was needed to keep me still.

'Bella,' his voice was softer, almost a whisper, 'why are you doing this to yourself?'

My sobs were breaking through again and I felt my control slip.

'I…I don't know,' was all I barely mumbled. I felt Edward's hand slip down to mine and I turned to face him. I leaned my face on his shoulder and his armed wrapped around me as my sobs shook through my body. I heard the door open and lit spilled around us but I didn't take much notice of it. Charlie came outside and took my forgotten bag from the ground.

'Take her inside, will you, I don't think I'm able to bring her upstairs,' he told Edward. I felt Edward nod as he pulled me inside. Before I realised it, we were in my room. My sobs had almost stopped so I pulled away from Edward and looked down at the floor.

'I guess I should get going. Are you going to be ok?'

I nodded, my throat still sore from screaming earlier. I sat on the bed once Edward had left and closed my eyes, not yet ready to sleep but not able to face the world once more. I concentrated on listening to the noises outside my window, hoping to gradually fall asleep. Half an hour after Edward had left I heard the truck pull up outside, I smiled to myself knowing that him and Alice had brought it back for tomorrow. As sleep suddenly took over, I couldn't help but wonder if I would speak tomorrow. A part of me said to at least try, I didn't have to say much. But another part told me to keep my mouth shut.

A/N: Finally she spoke! Don't expect much from Bella soon though, it will take time for her to get back to normal let alone reveal the truth. Now, who wants Edward's POV from the past two chapters? It may only be one chapter long though. And I just want to point something out: 3474 words! That's my longest chapter ever! Sorry had to say that, I am so proud of myself right now for writing longer chapters.