DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS FROM TWILIGHT. THEY ALL BELONG TO STEPHENIE MEYER.

I just want to thank everyone for reviewing. I know it must seem a little pathetic, me asking for reviews when I've already got so many. I honestly never thought that I would have this kind of response to my story - well, either one of them - and the responses that I have had are amazing. But it's the reviews and opinions of you guys, the readers, that cause me to write this story.

And I want to say a HUGE thanks to those of you who review every single chapter. It makes me smile no end. You know who you are :D

Also, a lot of people have been commenting about the prologue, asking me if it is a nightmare of if it is real and I can honestly say that I can't tell you what happens. Unlike a lot of authors and writers I don't plan ahead, so I don't have a plotline that I'm following. I can't say what will happen later on in the story, with regards to the prologue because I'm not entirely sure about what's going to happy. Sorry.

Anyways I'm going to stop babbling now and get on with the story.

EPOV

I sat in the living room after having eaten my breakfast wondering how I was going to do this.

I had resolved that I was going to try to get Renee to listen to what was really going on, rather than Jacob's warped view, but the only problem was I had no idea of how to get her contact details.

I couldn't ask Bella. There was no way that she would let me get involved in any of this stuff going on with Jacob. Like the rest of them, she wanted to shield me from everything that was happening. That was not what I wanted. Even though she thought that she was helping, all of this affected me as much as it did her. She might be the one that was leaving, but as soon as she got on that plane, I knew that she was taking my heart and my reason for being with her. I didn't want to let happen. I couldn't, I wouldn't let that happen.

Imagining life without Bella.

That was something that I couldn't do.

No, it was something that I wouldn't do.

But I had a slight problem. I didn't know how to get in contact with Renee. Again I was back to feeling useless. I wanted to stop Bella from leaving, as much as anyone else did, but I didn't feel as though as I could. With everyone else, it was like the main goal was to keep everything away from me. To keep me from getting upset or whatever, and that was something I was tired of. Even Bella to a certain extent, but she let me in when she knew that I needed to know what was really going on. Even so, if there was other slight stuff going on, I wasn't in the know. I knew that there was something being kept from me, but I just had no idea what. And I was sick of it. There had to be a way that I could get contact details for Renee. I leaned forward and rested my elbows on my knees, sighing as I did so. I rested my face in my hands, trying to think, but coming up blank. Then my head snapped up as it hit me.

"Charlie." I whispered.

Realising this I wondered if it would work. I had to try and find out.

I practically ran up the stairs and got into the shower, letting the hot water wash away the tension that had built up in my shoulders. Whilst underneath the hot water I ran through my mind, trying to work out what I was going to say when and if I caught up with Charlie. I knew that I had to do, I just didn't know how to do it. Stepping out of the shower I towelled myself dry and got dressed quickly. Running down the stairs I made sure that Esme and Carlisle still weren't here. Noting that the house was in fact empty, I grabbed my jacket and scribbled down a quick note. I didn't say where I was going but I made sure to note down that if I wasn't back before they got home, for them not to worry.

I grabbed my car keys and walked out of the house. Getting into my car, I placed the keys into the ignition but didn't turn them. Instead I placed my hands onto the steering wheel, closed my eyes and took a deep breath, preparing myself for what I was going to do. Once I had gotten myself relatively calm and collected I started the car and made my way down the driveway.

I knew the way to Bella's purely because she had taken me there the day I told her everything from school, and seeing as there was only one main road in Forks it wasn't that hard to find. It still depressed me a little to think of how small this place really was. And yet at the same time I was astounded that not everyone knew where I really was, or what was really going on with me for the last eight months. Bella had told us that gossip in this town spread like wild-fire and I knew that my family must have been working overtime to make sure that nothing that was close to the truth was spread.

Something I was thankful for. Something else I owed them for.

Approaching Bella's house I saw her dilapidated old truck parked in the driveway. Why she bothered to drive that thing was beyond me. Why she didn't trade it in for something newer and more reliable, I didn't know. What I did know was that she loved that truck. For some reason, a reason that was beyond me, she had some strange attachment to it. I wasn't about to tell her to give it up, but I sure as hell wasn't going to ride in it again. The first, last and only time I had ridden in it was almost a year ago and it had scared the hell out of me. The fact that I thought the engine was going to explode along the way was enough to deter me from climbing into it again.

I also noticed that Charlie's police cruiser was parked in the driveway as well. I let out a breath that I didn't realise I had been holding in. That meant he was home from work. It must be his day off today.

I parked on the curb, just off from their driveway, just in case some emergency came up and Charlie had to leave quickly. I didn't want to be the reason he was delayed. But then again thinking about it, there were never any real emergencies in Forks, but knowing my luck, today would be the day that a real emergency did arise.

I climbed out of my car and walked slowly up the driveway, trying to regulate my breathing as I did so. What the hell was I going to say to him? Hi, Charlie. I was wondering could I have Renee's number so I can call her and demand that she leave Bella alone? No, I didn't think that that would work.

Wing it, I thought to myself. You've been able to do that for ten years. You can sure as hell do it now. I at least hoped so.

I knocked on the door tentatively and it was a moment before I heard any movement from within. It was too late now to run back to my car and drive off. My Volvo may not have been as noticeable as say, Alice's Porsche or Rose's BMW but it still stood out in Forks. He would know that it was me who had knocked on the door in a heartbeat.

I was broken out of my musings by the door opening and a bewildered looking Charlie standing in front of me. "Edward?" His voice sounded as confused as the expression on his face made him look.

"Hi, Charlie." I said quietly. "Can I talk to you?"

He nodded, stepping aside and opening the door, gesturing for to come inside. I smiled at him as I walked past. The confused look was still on his face as he led me into the sitting room. The house was exactly as I remembered it from the one and only time that I'd been there. It seemed strange to think that I had been with Bella all this time and I had only been to her house once. Not counting this time that is.

"What can I do for you, Ed?" He asked sitting down.

"Edward, please." I sat down on the sofa facing him. The confused look increased on his face, and I guessed that it was because I preferred my full name as opposed to anything else. "I don't like nicknames or abbreviations of my name." I explained and his mouth made the little "oh" that I recognised as realisation. He nodded at me, a small smile on his lips.

"What can I do for you, Edward?" I smiled at him. I hadn't really talked to Charlie that much, but from what I had heard from Bella and Alice, who by the way, had him wrapped around her little finger, he was a good guy. Easy to get along with.

"Um, it's about Bella." I noticed that his face became a little tensed when I said that. "I know she has to leave at the end of the summer." He nodded solemnly. "I was wondering, why? I mean, I know that Renee has been told some things about....me.....that she obviously didn't like, but I was wondering if you knew what it was."

He shook his head slowly. "No, I'm afraid I don't." He looked at me and I could see the sadness in his eyes. "She won't tell me. I've tried to convince her that whatever it is that she's been told, isn't true. And I know for a fact, even if I don't know what it is, that it's not, you understand Edward?" I nodded, smiling at him. I know that he knew that what Jacob had told Bella's mother was a lie. Like I said, Charlie was a good guy. He never jumped the gun. And seeing as he knew exactly what was going on, he knew that I wasn't crazy or in a mental institution or somewhere like that. "Honestly, I don't think that anything anyone says to her is going to make any difference." He sighed. "Whatever Jacob said to Renee, she won't tell us what it was, and she seems to believe it. She won't listen to any of us."

"Well, apparently, Jacob has told her that .... I have been in some kind of .... mental hospital.....for the last eight months." I saw his mouth drop open slightly as I told him this. "Tell me about it. I don't know what I've done to make him so mad, you know, but .... I just....it's hurting Bella, and she's the last person I want to hurt."

"I know, son." He smiled warmly at me, and I smiled back. I didn't know whether or not Bella had told him about us being engaged yet, so I didn't remark on the "son" that he had put on the end of that statement. I think I would rather Bella be here when he found out that particular bit of news. "Unfortunately, Renee is where Bella gets her stubborn streak from. Something I think you've probably seen a couple of times right?" I rolled my eyes and nodded, smiling again. Oh, yes, I had seen that streak. Too many times. "So, I don't think that she's going to listen to anything that anyone's got to say."

"Maybe....." I hesitated, before deciding to go straight for the kill. "Maybe I could talk to Renee." He raised his eyebrows at me. "I mean....with everybody else calling her, she's got to be thinking that it's all of you guys, I don't know, trying to sugar coat everything. But maybe....if she heard it, my story, straight from me, she might listen." He nodded slightly, obviously thinking things over. "I mean, where better to hear something than straight from the horses' mouth, right?"

"You know, Edward." He said thoughtfully. "You might be onto something there." He stood up and walked through to the kitchen, motioning for me to follow. Which I did, slightly confused. As I walked into the kitchen I saw him digging into a draw and pulling out a little book. An address book I guess. He also took a little pad off of the wall and began searching for a pen. I saw one on the side next to me and handed it to him. "Thanks." He flipped through the book, instantly turning to a page that looked a bit worn. Something told me that he had been turning to that page a lot in the last few days. He found the number that he had been looking for and wrote it down, writing a name above it. He closed the book and wrote down another name and number. "Now..." He stood up and faced me, the paper in his hand. "I'm not going to tell you that this is going to be easy. Renee is a lot more stubborn than Bella is. Like I said that's where she gets it from, so it's a bit diluted." He grinned.

"Don't worry, sir." I replied, smiling. "I'm pretty stubborn myself."

"So I've heard." I looked at him confused. "Oh no, I didn't mean anything by that. It's just, some things that Bella has told me, you know, gifts and such, like the crest that you gave her. You were pretty adamant about it." I nodded. "But anyway. It might take a lot of convincing to get her to even listen to you. It all depends on what mood she's in. Hope to God that she's in a good mood, otherwise, you're not going to get anywhere with her." I nodded, smiling and he handed me the piece of paper. "And, uh, I put my cell on there as well, you know, just in case you need to contact me at all."

"Thank you sir." I said, remembering my manners.

"Charlie, please." He grinned at me and I smiled back. Yeah, I definitely liked Charlie.

"Charlie." I nodded once. "Thank you." I folded up the paper and turned to leave.

"Edward?" I turned to look at him as I reached the door. "Just to let you know, I didn't mean for it to come out...you know....about everything. And even if I had, I never thought that anything like this would ever happen."

"I know, Charlie." I said softly, smiling warmly at him. "It's okay. Honestly," I took a deep breath. "I'm surprised that it's not all over Forks by now. I mean, with a town this size. Bella's always told me that gossip spreads like wild-fire in this place. So I'm surprised that not everyone knows."

"Yeah," He nodded, looking at his shoes. "Well, the kids have worked pretty hard at keeping it on the low. And, whenever anyone's asked me about it, I always tell them that I don't know anything. That Bella doesn't really talk about what happens at yours. I tell her that the reminder of what happened to you that day at school hurts too much."

"Thanks Charlie."

"How are you doing anyway?" He sounded genuinely concerned.

"I'm doing okay." I replied. "There have been a few ups and downs since I got out of hospital, but honestly. If it weren't for your daughter, I'd still be in there." I told him honestly and I saw the warmth return to his eyes. "Thanks Charlie."

"What for?" He sounded confused again.

"Oh you know. Everything." I smiled at him again. "Bella." He smiled and nodded at me as I walked out of the door.

That meeting went better than I had thought it would. Honestly, I didn't know what I was expecting, but I knew I wasn't expecting that. Maybe some kind of resistance to my getting involved. But then again, he wanted his daughter to stay with him and maybe, like me, he was willing to take whatever chance he had to to make it so she stayed.

I drove home quickly, wanting to get this over and done with soon. Pulling up my driveway I was glad to see that no one else was home. Lately, the comings and goings of my family had become so erratic I had no idea when to expect them home. I jumped out of my car and walked quickly up my driveway, letting myself into the house.

I took the phone numbers out of my jacket pocket and tucked the piece of paper into the pocket of my jeans before taking my jacket off and hanging it up. I didn't really want to lose any points with Esme so I took off my shoes and placed them in the rack, as I was supposed to. Meh, call me what you want, I wasn't in the mood for an argument when Esme got home. I walked into the kitchen and grabbed the note that I had left, scrunching it up and throwing it into the bin.

I walked up to my room, taking the phone numbers out of my pocket and entered my room. I sat down on my bed, wondering how to approach this. Did I go with my plan from earlier and say that I was someone else? No. I knew that this would get back to Bella and I didn't want to implicate anyone else. I would tell her who I was, and explain, or attempt to explain as Charlie had put it, everything that had really happened. Where I had been. What had led me down the path that I had taken. And that I loved and needed her daughter. She had to listen. She just had to.

I dialed the number and taking a deep breath, I pressed the call button, placing it to my ear while I heard the tone waiting for a connection from the other end.

"Hello?" A woman's voice answered tentatively, not recognising the number.

"Uh, hello. I was wondering if I could speak to Renee please?" I asked, cursing myself for sounding like a dumbass.

"This is she." The woman on the other end sounded more confident now. "What can I do you for?"

"Actually I was calling about your daughter Bella." I bit my lip waiting for her response.

"What about her?" She sounded cautious now. "Who is this?"

"Um, my name is Edward. I'm-"

"Oh, you must be my Bella's boyfriend!" Her voice had suddenly gotten all high and sweet and incredibly fake, as though she was worried that I might flip if she said something wrong or used the wrong tone. But of course she was. She, of course, had been told that I was a mental case. "What can I do for you dear?"

"Um," I pinched the bridge of my nose between my thumb and forefinger, closing my eyes tightly. "Firstly, if you could stop using that tone, that would be really really great. It's incredibly patronising. And despite what you may have heard, I am not a mental case."

"Oh, whatever do you mean dear?" She was still using that sugary fake voice.

"Jacob Black? Ring any bells?"

"Yes dear," She replied. "He's one of my Bella's oldest friends. And....don't worry dear. He told me about your....issues."

I was stunned. "W-what "issues"?"

"I think you know what I mean, dear."

"Actually." I corrected her. "No I don't. And could you please, stop calling me "dear". It's incredibly demeaning."

"Of course sweetheart." I made a face at her down the phone. Swapping one annoying name for another was not what I meant. "Now, how can I help you?"

"You can help me, by one: stop using that tone with me. Like I said, it's very patronising, I am not a mental case, so you don't have to worry about upsetting me." I stood up now, unable to sit still any longer. "And two: if you could tell me exactly what Jacob told you about me that would be great."

"Well." I noticed her tone change immediately. Obviously she wasn't a fan of the blunt route. Personally, this was what I had been hoping for. I much preferred people to be blunt with me than patronising. I was eighteen for Pete's sake, not four. "I'm not sure I should say anything. With what I've been told, you might.....react.....badly."

"Hold up." I stopped pacing. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"That reaction right there, is what that is supposed to mean." She replied quickly. "Jacob's told me all about you Edward. I know what you're like. About your "problems"." I could practically see the air quotations around the word "problems" as she said it.

"And what "problems" would those be?"

She sighed on the other end. "Oh, I don't know. The self-harm, you know, the starving yourself, hearing things, voices .... ring any bells?"

"Uh, okay." I sat down again, leaning against the headboard of my bed. "I will...admit to the first two but....I do not hear "things" or "voices". I never have."

"That's not what I've heard."

"Then you've heard wrong." Why did this have to happen? Why couldn't she just listen to me? Charlie had said that she was a handful and hard to get through to and now I realised that I had seriously underestimated him. Well, two can play at this game. I thought to myself, smirking.

"Is that so?" She asked, sounding smug.

"Yes it is." I replied. "Did you ever think to question Jacob? Wonder why he thought that it was the best idea to phone you? I mean, if he was really worried about me then shouldn't he have gone to Charlie instead?"

"He told me that he did go to Charlie." She replied, the confidence in her voice rising with every syllable. "But he said that Charlie was so taken in with your family that he wouldn't listen to anything that he had to say."

"Did you ever stop to think that Jacob was lying?" I questioned her.

"Now why would he do that?"

"Oh, I don't know, because he might be jealous?" I raised that point. "He has a thing for Bella. Well...I think it might be more than a thing but....I don't know....he's jealous because Bella is with me and not him."

"Now, he said that you'd say that, when he called me." I could practically see the knowing finger waggling at me. "You see, you're not as smart as you think you are. You may have been able to fool your family with your behaviour but you can't get past me."

"Okay, Renee." I sighed. "Did Jacob ever tell you why I resorted to that "behaviour"? Did you ever stop to think that there might be something behind it. Look, I'll be the first to admit, yes I used to hurt myself, yes I used to starve myself. But I have never ever heard any kinds of voices or whatever inside my head. That is where I draw the line."

"What are you talking about?" She snapped. I was getting to her now. I smirked. I still had my uncanny ways of getting under people's skin. And I planned to use my ability to do that to my full advantage.

"What Jacob told you about me "hearing voices". Not true."

"Really?"

"Yes really." I replied. "Did he ever tell you the reasons why?"

"He never had to." She replied smugly. "It's not hard to work out. They say that behaviour like that runs in the family."

"What did you just say?" I whispered into the phone upon hearing that. She did not just say what I think she said.

"They say that these thing are hereditary, don't they?"

I took a deep breath, trying not to lose it. If I lost it then I definitely would lose Bella. "Well, I guess we'll never know."

"Why not?" She asked. "Just asking your mother and father a few questions would help to clear that up." She said it as though it was that easy.

"That'll be a bit hard." I said in a low voice. "They're dead."

"What?"

"I said, my parents are dead. They died ten years ago." I sighed, trying to hold back the tears that were welling in my eyes. The same tears that always came whenever I spoke about my parents.

"That's not what I was told." She accused me, as though she thought that I would lie about something like that.

"Well, if Jacob had his facts straight, he would know that Carlisle and Esme are not my biological parents." I looked out the window. "No. I had to watch my biological parents burn in a car crash ten years ago. I was the only one who made it out alive. That's why I began to self harm. That's why I began to starve myself. So I could deal with the pain of losing them. So I could have something familiar in my life again. Not because I heard voices or whatever." She was silent on the other end. "Like I said, maybe you should have asked someone else other than Jacob."

"What does this have to do with Bella?" She asked, changing the subject.

I chuckle darkly. "Changing the subject? Good ploy. Bella is the one who convinced me to let go. To let go of all the pain and the guilt that I was feeling inside, and just.....move on. She's the best thing that has ever happened to me and I love her. I love her more than anything else in this world. Without her here there is just no reason for anything. And I know that she feels the same way about me. Her moving back to Phoenix will destroy both of us. I need her as much as she needs me. You have to let her stay here."

"I don't think I can do that, Edward." She told me.

"Why not?" I asked. "Nothing, I mean nothing that Jacob has said is true."

"What about you being in the hospital?" She questioned. "Is that true?"

"Yes, I was in a hospital, but not the kind he made it out to be." I told her. "It wasn't so much a ..... hospital.....it was a clinic. To help people get over....eating disorders."

"People?" Her tone was skeptical and I knew that I had to push a bit more to get her to listen. I hoped that I was at least getting somewhere with her.

"Yes, people with pasts like mine." I told her. "People going through things that they couldn't necessarily control. So .... they turned on themselves. Using the only thing that they could control."

"And you were one of these people?"

"Yes." I rolled my eyes. For someone so stubborn, she wasn't the most technically minded person I had ever spoken to.

"I don't know Edward." She replied. "For now, I still want Bella to come back to live with me. But I'll bear what you've told me in mind. Goodbye, Edward."

"No Renee wait-" But she had already hung up. Why did I feel like I had gained absolutely no ground whatsoever? Oh, wait, probably because I hadn't.

I growled, yes, I admit it, I growled at the phone in my hand in frustration and threw it on the couch across the other side of the room, where it landed with a resounding thud before bouncing off of the leather and landing on the floor with a slight bang. Shit, I thought. If I had broken that I was in trouble. All I could think was that I had no idea what I was going to do now. Well, there wasn't really much that I could do. I had tried. On some level, I knew that she wasn't going to listen to me. But I still knew that I had to at least try. And now, I knew she was going to get into contact with either Bella or Charlie, which meant that I was going to have to deal with the wrath of a five foot four, brown-haired, brown-eyed angel/demon - depending on her mood.

Great, I thought. Just great.

I just want to say thanks again for all the great reviews.
Please, keep them coming. It's your reviews and opinions that keep this story going. They're what give me the inspiration to write.
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