Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.

Edward~

Charlie woke Bella up as he was leaving for work. She rolled away from me, trying not to wake me, I had to resist the urge to pull her back to me. They spoke in whispered tones in the kitchen. The smell of Bella's wonderful cooking filled the air.

"I'm going to call the Kitsop county sheriff to see if I can borrow one of his boys today." Charlie spoke matter-of-factly. His tone clearly indicated to Bella there was no talking him out of it.

"What for Dad?" she wondered. I heard the slide of a ceramic plate over the wooden table surface.

"I'm gonna put him in plain clothes outside Lilly's school. Right where that son of a bitch has been going to her." his fork clinked against the plate as he took a bite. Growing up I had been privy to so many meals in Bella's house, now as an adult I could see Charlies every gesture in my mind.

"I'm going to pull Lilly out for the rest of the week. I was also planning on going over to the school this morning and talking to them. Get Lilly's missed work and stuff."Bella said in a small voice. I knew how guilty she must feel for exposing Lilly to Jake. I hoped deep inside she knew this wasn't her fault.

"Would you like me to go with you?" Charlie asked her.

"I was going to take Edward. I need to have him added to Lilly's pick up list and emergency contact information. I'll leave Lilly with Alice and I will have Rose open the store for me." she paused briefly then sighed,

"it feels strange to go to these measures against Jake. I've known him my whole life. We knew the same people. We were in the same classes and now to think he would hurt my daughter. It's all so odd." a chair squeaked against the linoleum floor. There voices lowered even further,

"Bella. Baby. You would tell me if he hurt you, right? Even if it was sexual" charlie nearly choked on the word. I imagined Bella's face going scarlet from her neck to her hair, "you would tell me?" charlie questioned.

"Of course I would. I wouldn't of stayed with him for two years if I thought he was capable of anything that bad. I just never dreamed." her voice trailed off. I shuddered against the couch when my mind ran through the awful scenarios. The pitter patter of Lilly's feet rang out above us. The chair moved back in the kitchen and water started running. I sat up and tried to run my hand through my impossible hair. Lilly stopped on the landing at the bottom of the stairs. Her face lit up when she saw me.

"Edward!" she cried and ran to me. I opened my arms for her. She snuggled into me, almost sighing with comfort.

"How did you sleep?" I asked her.

"Mommy wasn't in bed when I woke up and I got scared." her tone was little. I wasn't sure if it was from waking up alone or the emotional upheaval from the day before.

"You don't have to be scared. She's in the kitchen with your grandpa." I reassured her. She sat up with tears brimming in her little green eyes.

"I had a bad dream." she confided. She looked almost ashamed to admit. I stroked her back. The feeling of comforting her was so natural.

"You can tell me if you want too." I kissed her forehead and smiled. I didn't know if it was to reassure her or me.

"I had a dream Jake got my mommy. He took her away and I never saw her again." Lilly said. I heard Bella and Charlies footsteps move towards the living room. They stopped short, still leaving Lilly and I alone. I tried to stop my body from shaking with anger and my own fear that Jake would do something to harm Bella and Lilly.

"I won't let him hurt you or Mommy. I'll be right here, I promise." I held her to me tightly again. I had the oddest sensation just to never let her go. To just keep her with me. So nothing or no one could ever hurt her again. It wasn't fees-able but the option was tempting.

"Edward, Jake said he was my Daddy. Did you know that?" Lilly's body shivered. I tossed the blanket over her to keep her warm. She laid her head over my heart and wrapped one arm around my neck.

"I heard that but it's not true honey." I said. She nodded in understanding.

"I wish my Daddy was you." she said in a tiny sleepy voice before she drifted off against my chest.

Bella's eyes met mine. Both of us had tears running down our cheeks. As soon as possible Bella and I would tell Lilly the truth.

Charlie volunteered to stay home later than usual and get Lilly ready for her day. She was sleeping so soundly I didn't want to move her but I hadn't truly been home, well to my mothers, in almost two days. She hadn't called me, nor had I called her. It was almost nine in the morning when I walked up the drive way. A strange car was in the drive way, a Cadillac. Leaning against the front door was a real estate for sale sign. The pieces of the puzzle fell together suddenly. She was going to sell her house and move away. She was running. "Like hell she is." I muttered to myself, clenching and unclenching my fists. I walked up the yard and into the house slamming the front door behind me. I turned and saw my mother and a paunchy middle aged man sitting in the formal dining room.

"Edward! I didn't expect you home." she said. Her voice was bright but with an edge to it. It was the sort of voice a mother might use to keep a petulant youngster in line in front of company. I wasn't having it.

"You're selling the house. You are going to fucking run away?" I asked through clenched teeth. She smiled politely at our company. He took his cue and cleaned up his papers.

"I'll have the listing in next week at the latest. It's a beautiful home. Selling wont be a problem." he advised her and then stood up to leave.

"I can't believe you." I spat at her. She flinched like I had hit her. The agent left and shut the door behind him but he didn't leave before he jammed the wooden for sale sign in the yard.

"Edward try and understand." she commanded. I shook my head, my lips set in a stiff line.

"Understand what? You lied to me. You kept things from me and now my life is finally back in order. Does it hurt you to watch me be happy mother? Is that why you are going to turn tail and run?" I folded my arms across my chest. A thought flickered through my mind, why did I care if she left? She didn't want Lilly or Bella. She certainly wouldn't want me to marry her. She surely didn't want me to stay here so why did I care?

"All I've ever wanted is for you to be happy. You were my reason for everything I did. All the lies, the deceit I did it all for you. It's what any good mother would of done." she stood at the end of table. Her face looked worn beyond her years. She was thinner then when I had arrived which seemed to be an age ago but really wasn't little more than a month.

"A good mother would of taken the time to tell her child the truth. No one should have had to find out the things I did the way I did. Not to mention what you did to Lilly and Bella. Oh and Alice. Tell me mother, did my sister factor into your decisions at all? Did you ever consider it was her life you were playing with too?" Mother's face flinched and her lips curled into a disgusted snarl,

"That woman isn't your sister." she spat. I laughed darkly,

"Just like Lilly's not my daughter and Bella doesn't love me anymore?" I walked to the end of the table and braced my palms against it's cool wooden surface.

"I'm not going to beg you to stay mother. I'm not going to get on my knees and beg for you to be apart of my life or your grand daughters for that matter but you should know that when you leave my life wont stop. I am going to keep going. I'm going to marry Bella and hopefully have more absolutely perfect children with her. I'm going to live here and love Bella with every ounce of my soul. I'm going to be a damn good brother to Alice and a really great dad to Lilly. If you cant handle that then you can't handle me." I looked her dead in the eyes as I spoke. Her bottom lip quivered,

"You would choose them over me." it was a statement, an understanding of her current situation.

"They never asked me to choose." I said and walked up the stairs to shower, change and pack up my things. I had a day to attend to and it no longer included her.

Bella~

Rose had no problem opening for me once I explained the situation and my Dad was being more than sweet about staying with Lilly until Edward and I ran our errands. The plan was for Rose to go and open. She would stay open until about twelve and then close down for the day. I felt like I was lighter than air every time Edward, and what we were about to do, crossed my mind. It felt so good to be able to tell Lilly the truth, to finally give her the father she so desperately wanted. I had just gotten out of the shower and was still wrapped in a towel when my phone rang. I sprinted to answer it. Hoping it was the velvet voice I was missing. To my surprise, it was Rose.

"Rose, what's wrong?" I asked immediately. Her voice was coming in short pants,

"I think I broke the cappuccino maker. You have to come down here now. Like right now Bella." she was freaking out but I didn't understand why.

"Rose it's okay, we just wont have cappuccino today. The world will not end." I said sarcastically.

"Bella please come down here." she asked once more.

"I'll be down as soon as possible. Don't leave okay?" I said. Rose laughed nervously,

"Wont be a problem. Bell's, I love you and I'm so sorry." her voice cracked. She was crying. Rose hardly ever cried.

"I love you too. I'm not mad at you. Don't cry." I told her. She hung up her end before I could say anything else. I dressed quickly, not even bothering to dry my hair. Before I left I told my Dad I would be right back. I kissed him and Lilly good bye. Lilly's eyes were sad.

"Mommy, don't go." she begged. She had not done this since she was a baby but the guilt hit me exactly the same. I crouched down to her level and smiled,

"I'll be right back." I kissed the end of her nose and smiled.

"You promise?" she asked me, her big green eyes staring at me.

"I'll always come back. I promise baby." I kissed her cheek and went out the side door to my jeep. The drive to the coffee house had never felt so long.

When I pulled up in the parking lot the thing that hit me immediately was there were no cars in the spaces. None. No customers, not rose's convertible or Alice's beetle. Something was wrong. The back door was open. I could see tiny flickers of movement in the kitchen. I got out and tucked my keys in the back pocket of my jeans. My heart started to beat faster as I approached the door. I had never been scared to walk inside before but for some reason now, with every step I took closer, I was terrified. Reason told me to turn around and leave. It said something was a miss and I shouldn't be here but I knew Rose was in there and I couldn't leave her. An eery silence filled the space around me when I walked through the back door. I could see Rose in front of me. Long blonde hair running down her back. She shook from the force of her sobs. She turned to me, I noticed first her eye was black, I noticed second her nose was bleeding.

"Oh my god Rose, what happened to you?" I asked her. Her face crumpled and I felt something cold and metal rub against the exposed skin on the back of my neck. I gulped when I heard the gun cock behind me.

"Do as I say Bella and no one has to get hurt." Jake said to me. I raised my hands slowly to show I had no weapon.

"Good girl Bella. This should be very easy." he said in a cold detached voice. The last thing I remember is the butt of the gun making a smacking sound into the back of my head. After that everything was dark.

A/n- Okay first of all thanks for being patient. Second thing is thank you for all the reviews. I know this chapter is short but it's helping me write in the long run. I have a new story up, Curve ball. Take a look at it and remember I am now on twitter as Fanfictrips.