A/N- This chapter, and the entire story, contains the effects of emotional abuse/manipulation. Please consider this when deciding to read.

This chapter was Beta'd by Dollybigmomma, please give her some love. As ever, she lets me know about mistakes, but sometimes I simply don't listen. What can I say? I'm a rebel. She, however, is nearly without flaws. Don't let my rebellion sully your opinion of her grammar and formatting skills.

The reviews in the past week were wonderful and really spurred me to write more. Please keep them coming if you feel so inclined.

Bella

I tried to hold myself together the rest of the day. I barely talked during lunch, and I did my best to avoid looking up and around. It was hard, nearly impossible, but I'd had plenty of practice going against my instincts. I knew I had the ability to endure.

When the last bell finally rang, I got out of there as quickly as I could. The further I got from the school, the less weight was on my chest.

They were here. I hadn't seen them yesterday, so I'd thought I was safe. How had their dad not picked them up and moved to Seattle at least?

Here, here, here, why were they here? The moment I heard my Spanish teacher welcome "Señorita Cullen" back, every muscle in my body stiffened. When he showed up in Biology, and then sat next to me… I could have sworn the walls were getting closer. When the bell rang I had gotten out as quickly as I could, and only the fear of the consequence from Phil kept me from leaving the school all together.

I used that energy now though, nearly sprinting home. I got to the house and quickly keyed myself in, locking it behind myself quickly, like I was being followed. I grabbed my phone and sent a text to Phil saying I was home. It was unlikely that he would ask for a full update, but if he did, I was screwed. I knew he'd be able to tell by my face that something had happened.

It really didn't matter that my lab partner was a boy, I'd have gotten some kind of punishment or lesson from Phil either way. If it had been a girl, he would tell me how much better they were, how they were pretty, and smart, and good, and deserved kindness, while I was ugly, and stupid, and evil, and I deserved everything he gave me. A small part of me had thought he was wrong, but as the years went on, I couldn't be sure what he was wrong about, or if he was at all.

A boy lab partner would have been much the same, but more disguised as a warning.

But no, my lab partner wasn't just any boy, it was the boy Phil had used as an example. My sunshiny world fell away because of Phil, and that boy was first…

…

I was thirteen. It had been almost two years since I had been allowed to visit Charlie. My mother had a broken arm, and Phil had been waiting on her hand and foot, apologizing for pushing her. She, as usual, was forgiving him, and everything felt right again. Almost.

I was worried, of course, but there was a sense of calm…for now. I got on the family computer and opened my email, finding one from Edward. I smiled to myself, but it was bittersweet. I missed him so much. I read through his message. He was telling me about the goings on since I had left, how school was starting soon, and he again wished I was in class with him. I began my reply, trying to respond in kind to each of his points with one of my own.

The clickety-clacking of my young and uncoordinated fingers on the keyboard had apparently drawn the attention of Phil, who came up behind me and started to read out loud. "I miss you, too, Edward. If we were in class together, we could share more books, maybe even every day."

He stopped his reading and laughed. "So, this is the little boy who has a crush on you, huh, Isabella?"

I blushed furiously. I started to protest, but he put his hand on my shoulder, a little too hard to not carry a warning, I had unfortunately learned. "Isabella, you don't have a crush on him, too, do you?" Before I could answer in the negative, he continued, "Because you know boys and girls can't really be friends, right? Not anymore. If you go back next summer, everything will be different."

My little heart sank in my chest. There were so many things I wanted to ask. If I went back? There was still a chance? And what did he mean, we couldn't be friends? We already were, just like I was friends with Emmett and Jasper, and Alice and even Rose…most of the time.

Suddenly, I didn't feel like writing back to Edward, not right then. I pushed myself away from the desk, hopping out of the wheelie chair, and abandoning my half-finished email that was still up on the screen.

…

Eventually, I had gotten a chance to send my response, but it had been weeks without a word from Edward. He didn't even call anymore, and eventually, Phil made me stop calling, saying that I was only annoying him. One day, I was crying in my room, missing my friend desperately. He'd been the last real friend I'd had from Forks. The last one who still called or emailed me, the rest had lost interest in my absence.

Phil came into my room, not bothering to knock. He sat on the bed beside me and started rubbing slow circles on my back. It was almost soothing, but I was still sure he would snap again. Anyway, he smelt of beer. He was always worse when he smelled like that.

"Oh, little Isabella, you're not crying over that boy, are you?" I looked up at him and nodded slowly. He sighed. "You won't believe me now, but he did you a favor, Isabella. Boys will only want to hurt you. I'd seen some of the things he'd emailed you, so I know what he was planning. Maybe not this year, or the next, but Edward wanted to hurt you, Isabella. Eventually, he'd want something from you, and you were just getting tricked by him."

"What do you mean? Edward's my friend." My tears were subsiding, I was more confused at that point.

"You and Edward spent a lot of time alone? Playing his piano, reading with each other, right?" I nodded again. "Since you seem not to know already, you'll soon understand why a boy would work so hard to be alone with a girl. If your Edward got you alone now? He'd try to get something from you, and if you said no, he wouldn't like you anymore, or maybe he'd decide to take it anyway." I started involuntarily shaking my head, and he smirked.

"All boys act like it eventually. Even your precious little Edward." He stood up and left me alone then, his words racing through my mind.

What did he mean? Boys couldn't be friends with girls? He was right, though, Edward had always preferred to be alone with me. He had always said the others were annoying him, and we went up to his room or to the piano room. Then, there was the dangerous way Phil said Edward would try to take something from me.

He talked about crushes; did he mean Edward would try to kiss me? I wasn't sure if I wanted to kiss him at all , or if he would need to take it from me. It sent shivers up my spine. Maybe Phil was right…maybe boys were dangerous.

…

I shuddered, thinking about what Phil would do if he found out I would be talking to him again, a boy he said had been tricking me, and would have taken from me. I had been so stupid and trusting of this boy, I hadn't even seen it. I would have to make it very clear that I didn't want to be friends again. I wouldn't let him take me somewhere alone. I knew better now.

Phil had tried to warn me, before he became my tormenter, before that target had developed the way it had. He had always punished me for being too nice to boys. Even though Phil couldn't touch me right now, he still had my mom. Renee was there, all alone, forced to take the entirety of Phil's anger. I couldn't bear to think about what he would do to her, just to teach me a lesson about Edward. I already knew Edward was just like the rest of them. I would make sure Phil's lesson didn't need repeating.

I dropped my backpack in my room and made sure I had my phone in my pocket and on in case Phil or Renee called or anything. I found myself getting into a familiar rhythm. I went around the house, cleaning what I could without moving too many of Charlie's things. Phil always hated it when he came home and his things were "hidden," even though I had just put them away.

Instead, I focused more on cleaning. Sweeping, vacuuming, mopping, and dusting. Charlie was relatively clean, though I could tell he didn't consider it too important. The main areas were clean enough, but it looked like he didn't pick up rugs or move chairs. I made sure to study the position of the pictures he had up on the shelves before picking them up. As I'd expected, there was plenty of dust just behind them, like Charlie had only dusted in front of and between the pictures.

I felt somewhat at peace, cleaning. It was so familiar to me. It was nice being able to affect something around me positively. For once, I wasn't causing any annoyance or anger or discomfort. Even when I cooked, I tended to mess something up and make Phil mad. Cleaning I always did right.

Lost in my thoughts, I was only brought to attention when I heard a car door slam in the driveway. I hurried to the window, peeking out.

Charlie was here, along with a car I didn't recognize. It was an old rusted pickup truck, something that would fit in well in the school's parking lot. I tensed for a moment, wondering if I had seen it there before. Had Mike or Tyler or someone shown up to tell Charlie what I had been up to? Had they come to tell him that I was talking to a boy? Or was it the opposite, were they going to tell Charlie I was being rude, going too far to keep them at arm's length?

I hadn't thought I was doing much; I just was trying to be less friendly, but maybe that was the problem. I heard the door open, and Charlie called out, "Bells?"

Putting down the dish I had just been drying, I called back, "I'm in here, Dad."

He turned the corner and smiled at me broadly. Phil had looked like that once. Before I could try to shake off the thought, he was followed in by a hulking man with long, black hair. I couldn't focus on anything, panic somewhat blurring my vision.

Who is this? I don't recognize him. Is he Charlie's friend?

"Bella! Look who came to see you!" Charlie smiled, gesturing to our guest.

To see me? Why is he here for me? What does he want from me?

I focused closely on the stranger then, and I saw him more clearly now. It was Jacob, one of my closest childhood friends, besides the Cullens. Not that any of them are anything to me anymore.

I used to spend so much time with Jacob in the summers, I practically lived at the Black's house when Charlie was working. But before my mind could remind me too much of better times, I again saw how…big…Jacob had become. Long gone were the days of the skinny little boy I had played with back then. In his place was a hulking man. I knew he was younger than I was, and though he was technically still a kid, that didn't matter. His size made him just as dangerous as any other man.

Jacob's face broke into a huge smile, and he came over to me, where I was still frozen in the kitchen. "Hey, Bella, been quite a while, huh?"

I forced myself to tack a smile onto my face. "Wow, yeah. It's been a few years, huh?"

"I'll bet you barely even recognized me." He brought up his arms, flexing muscles I'd already taken notice of. I was sure he was trying to impress me, but it felt like a reminder from Phil. Any man can take what he wants from you, Isabella. You're weak.

"There'll be time for small talk later, let's show Bella her present," Jacob's dad, Billy, called from outside, his voice as relaxed as ever.

"A p-present?" Any ease I had remaining disappeared. A present was never good. Even on the rare occasion that a present itself was nice, they always came with strings. Like when Phil got me my first phone. Yes, I could call or text anyone I wanted, but Phil could see who I called and what I texted. Not to mention the tracking abilities once I got a smartphone.

"Yeah, Bells, let's go!" Charlie gestured to the door again. He headed back outside, going down the porch steps, but Jake stood in the entryway, holding the door open for me, not that he needed to.

I tried to move past him quickly, but I accidentally bumped into him. I tried to move away from him again, but of course, the quick back and forth caused me to trip. Jake steadied me, his hands on my waist and shoulder. As quickly as I could while still being polite, I pulled myself away from him, following Charlie out of the house.

The feeling of Jacob's body pressed against mine, and his hands on my body, felt burnt into my skin. I resisted the strong urge to go scrub the areas where I still felt him lingering on me.

Charlie stopped in the driveway, turning around to face me, while leaning on the truck I had spotted from the kitchen.

"Well, what do you think?" For a moment, I didn't know what to think. A car? Phil had never let me have a car. He made sure I knew how to drive in case he needed me to drive him back from a bar, but I'd never had the ability to just…go somewhere.

Charlie looked at me expectantly. "Wait, the- Dad, do you mean the car?" I said carefully, not wanting to suggest anything in my tone. Phil always found a way to make everything I said a weapon to use against me.

"Well, of course, Bells! Did you think I was going to continue to make you walk to school every day? Especially once it starts getting colder. I wanted to make sure you can get to and from school safely." His smile looked genuine, like he really cared about my safety. Of course, he does, he wants any harm to come from him. And it didn't escape me that he'd said to and from school, nothing else.

"Wow, Dad, it's awesome, I've never had a car before." I carefully kept too much excitement from leaking into my words. Of course, I wouldn't be able to go anywhere else with it, but just being able to get to and from school faster, to not have to trudge through whatever weather Forks was enduring, would be amazing. "Thank you."

He smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "It's yours with no conditions, but I have a few requests." My stomach dropped again. Of course. What would he want from me? And damn, he's crafty. Calling them requests instead of conditions. Later, he'll claim it was my choice, but I know better. It's not my choice, and if I choose not to…there'll be consequences.

"Sure, what are they?" I tried to push down the acid I felt rising in my esophagus. Of course, there was something. Phil had been right, no one, especially men, gave anything for free. There were always strings attached.

"I want you home by eight o'clock on school nights unless you let me know ahead of time. It'd be great if you could take care of grocery shopping, since you like to cook. I'll give you gas money and all that. Oh, and of course, stay under the speed limit," he ticked off the requests on his fingers.

He wanted to give me gas money, and I would have to ask every time I needed it. He wanted to make sure I remembered I was dependent on him. What would he want? Phil always made me do something extra when I needed money for groceries. He usually gave my mom money for groceries, but every once in a while, when Renee forgot or was too hurt to go, the groceries would run low enough that I would have to ask Phil for money to buy more, and he always made me earn it.

"I'm not even sure it can hit many of the speed limits, Charlie," Jacob said from behind me. I nearly jumped out of my skin. I had been so lost in my thoughts, I hadn't realized he was there. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"Uh, okay, Dad, I can do that." I renewed the smile on my face, seeing that Charlie still had his. Why would I be out after eight o'clock anyway? I wasn't in any clubs, and I was sure that even the more committed activities would have me home before then, most likely.

"Alright then. Well, Jake will show you all the features and whatnot." Charlie gave a soft smack to the side of the truck and went back inside with Billy, leaving me alone with Jacob.

Now, I was anxious and confused. Charlie had just voluntarily left me alone with Jacob. A boy. Maybe he was spying, or he would ask Jacob afterwards if I had done anything wrong. Maybe…that was the payment for the truck. Maybe I was the payment to Jacob for the truck. It had been mentioned to me by Phil more than a few times. He would say that my latest injury cost too much, and I could always earn that money from his friends. He'd never followed through with it, but maybe that was more Charlie's style.

"C'mon, this rust bucket is a dinosaur, so I'm sure I'll have to translate some ancient knowledge to you," Jacob smiled and got into the passenger side of the car. I found my hand shaking, as I opened the door to the driver's side. As I closed the door, I sat on my shaking hand, knowing that showing fear only made it worse, made them want to torment me more.

I held my breath, sure that this was the moment, this was the place where it would finally happen. All my breaths that I had held, every muscle tightened in anticipation, now they would finally be let go. It was a relief in a way. I knew bad things would happen to me. It had been promised to me over and over again by Phil, for years. The past week, while I hadn't been hit, yelled at, or worse, had been so stressful. I had started to understand why Renee would provoke Phil; the waiting was just as bad.

But it didn't happen. Jake didn't grab me. He didn't hit me. He didn't start taking off either of our clothing. He didn't even reach for me, though I thought he was when he was showing me where to turn on the lights and wipers. He didn't yell, or threaten, or anything.

After he was done showing me the car, which I barely paid attention to, I excused myself up to my room. I waited. I waited for Charlie to send Jacob again, or for Charlie himself to come, to yell at me for some imagined flirtation by Jacob in the truck, or even just to yell at me for being rude for not offering myself to Jake.

But Charlie didn't come either. The night passed, with me holed up in my room, waiting for a consequence, but getting nothing. I finally fell asleep, my stress and nerves exhausting me to the point that I stopped. I no longer listened for his footsteps, or his angry words. Maybe, just maybe…they weren't coming.

Not yet anyway.