I started my story from the very beginning. The day Mom and I left Charlie. Back then we lived in a large town near Seattle because Renee liked the city, but Charlie hated it so they settled for in between. I was 7 years old and couldn't understand how my Mother just stopped loving her husband because of some bad weather. I didn't want to go. She had to drag me out of the house kicking and screaming. Charlie was in such a shock from her words that he couldn't do anything but cry. I didn't tell him it, but my heart broke to see him like that.

I think Mom moved to Phoenix mostly because it was such stark contrast compared to Washington. We lived in a sketchy motel for almost a year. It was humiliating so I tried to cover it up from my school friends as much as I could. Mom worked so much I had to learn how to do all of the chores, make sure we were paying all our bills and did some odd jobs around the motel to make a couple bucks. Then one day Renee came home telling me she had great news. Thinking she blew off all of her pay check on a psychic or something equally ridiculous, I started to chastise her. She cut me off saying we were moving in with her new boyfriend, Phil, and to pack my bags because we were leaving now. I was too surprised to argue, and felt a bit of hope that I might live in a house and be a part of a functioning family again.

At first it was all I could have hoped for. Phil was well off; making lots of money being what I thought was a mediocre baseball player. Renee was head over heels in love, and I found myself a little resentful that she was happy with Phil and not Charlie, but who was I to complain? I was just glad I was under my own roof. Until I saw him get angry.

I can't remember exactly what Mom did, but I do remember his reaction to it. Rage. His fingers curled into fists, his muscles visibly tightened, and he lashed out. He started cussing her out and threatened to kill her. After the first punch, I ran at him. My tiny ten year old fists beat harmlessly against his broad back. After she passed out I had his attention. I turned to run but he back handed me. I hit my head on the floor and everything slowly faded to black.

The physical abused continued till the day he left. I have lingering scars from the worst of them. His best friend was a doctor so he called him in a few time for stitches and one time I had to have a blood transfusion. The rest was easily treatable with a first aid kit. Renee and I developed a system to avoid angering him at any cost. I took over the house hold chores and cooking because Renee honestly sucked at it. Instead she did most of the talking; buttering him up in case we needed to ask him for something or so he wouldn't hit us so hard the next time he was in a mood. I quickly skimmed over the years I lived with that awful man, I didn't want to make Charlie feel any worse. I could tell he was putting up a brave face for me. I was a wreck but fortunately my voice stayed strong as I continued to day Mom died.

I hesitated, what if he blamed me for Mom's death? I did. He encouraged me to continue.

That night I was walking Renee home from work. Phil didn't like us spending money on a taxi and I refused to let her walk home alone in the middle of the night. On our way to Phil's house we passed by a 24 hr pharmacy. I told Renee we needed to restock our supplies so we went in and bought what we needed. Then we started talking about James, a college student I started dating a month ago. She fel uncomfortable with me dating him while I was still in high school, but I argued he has never pressured me into anything and that Phil was 7 years younger than her. As we exited she turned around to yell at me for bringing up Phil, but a dark truck came out of nowhere and the next thing I knew, she was lying on the ground fifty feet away in a pool of blood, and the truck was long gone.

I stopped had to stop there because I was choking on sobs. "I was my fault…. It was my fault she died…"

"Bella, that was an accident. Your mother's death was NOT YOUR FAULT. Do you hear me?" I nodded, but I still disagreed with him. "Bella, you didn't know that truck was going to be there. It was the driver's responsibility, he was the one who killed your mother and any court of law would find him guilty of vehicular homicide. You can't blame yourself for things that are out of your control." He rubbed my hand until I stopped crying and continued with the story.

Phil didn't take Renee's death well at all. He blamed me, and said that I should be punished for it. I woke up the next day in the hospital. They told me I got in a car accident and an anonymous man saved me. By the time I was discharged and got back to the house, I found a note with 50 bucks saying he went to Florida for a new baseball contract and that the house payments were due by the end of the week.

Charlie's grip on my hand tightened as he tried to keep up his calm façade. He just realized I lied to him over the phone. I was just glad he was taking it so well, so I continued.

"Mom told me over the years that you didn't want me anymore so I never thought to contact you." I explained. When I was younger I always asked if we could go to Charlie's over the summer, or why he forgot my birthday. I know now that she hid all of his letters from me. I never knew why she did it. Charlie didn't either. I guess she would rather she her and her daughter get beaten every day that to humble herself enough to ask for help from her ex-husband.

Running out of options I called the one person I could turn to. James. He offered to help me move into his apartment, but I would have to move everything into storage, which could get expensive. James then said he would be happy to move in and help pay the mortgage. I was a lot like when we first moved in with Phil. James cared for me as I grieved my mother's death. He even got me a job and a local convenience store his friend owned. James quit college because of bad grades and was hired at home depot to be a cashier. The brief moment of peace in my life didn't last. The first month after he moved in, he started to hit me.

"And well, I was with him for 11 more months and you know he rest." I didn't want to talk about James. It was still a bit too soon to describe how he cut me off from all of my friends, started guilt tripping me into doing things for him, and pressuring me into pushing our physical relationship further.

Charlie was quiet for a minute. As if trying to build his courage to ask something. My anxiety came back and I got fidgety waiting for his reaction.

"Did he rape you?" he blurted out, now looking me straight in the eye.

Mortified, I turned beat red. I promised myself not to lie to him anymore, but I just couldn't find my voice so I nodded yes.

I didn't even know there were tears streaming down my face till Charlie started to wipe them away with the pad of his thumb. He started to speak comforting words to me, but I was distracted by the overwhelming sense of relief. The fog that had burdened my mind with doubt and hate suddenly dissipated to crystal clarity. I knew that no matter what happened from now on, I could handle it.

A/N: So what do you think? Feel free to review if you have any questions. I also want to give my thanks to psychovampirefreak and rrrarkansas for reviewing!