A/N: My editor just returned the first draft of my new novel, Finding Purgatory, to me. Soooo fair warning, updates might be few and far between for the next week or so. I'm definitely going to update Long Distance and Angel is a Centerfold next.

I'm really excited to show you guys this one!

And to my dear anon who keeps asking about New Girl...that is not my fault. You might notice that New Girl is a collab. It's not my turn. I have very little control over that. :)

Since he didn't know the man, Edward could only think in broad generalizations about his first meeting with Charlie Swan. They were peers-Charlie was less than two years older than Edward. It wasn't a stretch to figure out the man wouldn't be pleased to find his daughter pregnant by a man he could have gone to school with. Edward hadn't been looking forward to being that guy-exactly what any parent didn't want for their kid.

This, of course, was a worst case scenario. When Bella put his hand to her firm belly, she'd accidentally shoved him into a maelstrom, which wasn't exactly uncommon for him these days. It was different though, charged by her nearness. He'd felt a connection to her since the very first time he laid eyes on her. With all the drama, his struggles and hers to deal with this pregnancy, it was easy to forget what had brought them together in the first place. With his arm around her, their hands pressed to the life that had sparked out of that connection, Edward had wanted nothing in that moment as much as he wanted to kiss her.

Charlie coming in had thrown him from one tumultuous head space into another and had left him disoriented. As a result, there was much stumbling over awkward introductions, Charlie's increasingly more aggravated questions, and then Bella blurted out her confession.

"I'm pregnant."

The words turned the atmosphere, already tense, heavy to the point of pain. By then, Bella had tucked herself into the very corner of the couch, her legs up on the cushions, her arms wrapped around her knees. She watched her father through anxious eyes, and Edward wished he could go to her, hug her. He would have, but he didn't want to make this moment worse for her.

Seeing her like that had the effect of centering Edward's attention. His own nervousness was forgotten, brushed aside as unimportant. This wasn't about him; it was about Bella. This situation wasn't going to be comfortable for Edward, but it was potentially devastating for her. He scooted over deliberately, so it didn't seem like he was trying to get away from her.

The room was so quiet Edward heard when Bella swallowed. "Look, I know I fucked up, but-"

"No, stop. I don't think I want to hear your excuses." Charlie ran a hand over his face, looking anywhere but at her. "I just don't understand you. It took you two years to get back on your feet. This is… This is permanent. What the hell was the point of all that therapy? When you were with that prick, I thought you were hellbent on destroying your life. I thought you were over that."

Edward was stunned at the venomous words coming out of the other man's mouth. He remembered Bella telling him not to worry, that her father would blame her, but hearing it was a very different thing.

"This isn't the same thing," Bella said, her voice small and shaky.

"No, I guess it isn't. After all, when you finally got it through your head Mike was bad news, I could throw him in jail where he belongs. That was the silver lining back then. At least you weren't stupid enough to let him knock you up or was it just dumb luck?"

With every word, Bella seemed to shrink. She pulled her arms tighter around herself and stared down at her knees. Her mouth was set in a hard, thin line, and she'd lost any semblance of color. Edward couldn't stay silent any longer. "I'm sorry, but I don't think this is helping anyone."

For the first time, Charlie Swan turned his glare on Edward. It was disconcerting to see Bella's bright brown eyes glinting with fury. "You know what I think? I think you should keep your mouth shut. I don't want to talk to you right now. I figure I know your type well enough. What are you, thirty? At least? I get it. College kids make easy targets. Girls like Bella find trouble enough on their own. They don't need any help."

"Dad, Edward isn't like that," Bella said, her voice slightly stronger now in Edward's defense.

Charlie turned his head back to his daughter. "No? Like you insisted Mike wasn't like that? Mike was a great guy, and 'you just don't understand, Dad' until he nearly killed you."

Bella flinched and winced as her father spoke, her hands clutching convulsively into fists, as she looked anywhere but up.

"Okay." Edward scooted all the way over so he could put his hand to Bella's back. It had the effect of getting her to look at him if nothing else. "Bella, I think your dad needs a few minutes to process. Do you want to come with me to get a hotel?"

That sent Charlie into action. He got to his feet and pointed at Edward. "You think you're going anywhere with my daughter, you have another thing coming."

Edward got up too and, as though she expected violence was imminent, Bella jumped to her feet beside him, putting a restraining hand to his arm. It broke his heart that in tense, angry moments like this, the first thing she thought was that someone was going to get hit. He took her hand instead though he didn't drop Charlie's gaze. "What I think is that you don't know your daughter any more than you know me. This is what I know about her. She's the strongest person I've ever met. After everything she's been through, she still sees the beauty in people. Maybe that hasn't done her any favors, but it's more than I can say for either of us." He gave her hand a squeeze and let it go so she wouldn't feel coerced. "And I also think she's the only one who gets to say where she's going and with whom."

He turned away from Charlie to look at Bella then and raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to go with me?" he asked, keeping his tone light and even. What he wanted to do was get her the hell out of there. He didn't give a good god damn about Charlie Swan's intentions; the man was hurting his daughter so badly, he may as well have been using his fists.

Bella looked between her father and Edward, but she took Edward's hand again. "I'll go with you," she said. Her voice was quiet but strong.

"Bella-" Charlie started, but he stopped when his daughter put her hand out.

"I'll be back," she said. "When you're ready to hear me, I'll be back."

She let Edward pull her out of the house then, and she got in his rental instead of her beat-up old truck. Once settled in the car, she mirrored the pose she'd assumed on the couch just minutes before, pulling her feet up on the seat and hugging her knees close.

Edward wanted to say something, but he didn't have the right words. He was furious, and he didn't think his recriminations against her father would help. He knew Bella well enough to understand there was a large part of her who believed the warped version of reality Charlie subscribed to.

Like everything in the tiny town, the motels of Forks were easy to find. There was really only one main road. Edward stopped at the first one he hit, Pacific Inn Motel.

"Not here," Bella said. The urgency in her voice alarmed him.

"Okay. Do you have any suggestions?"

She appeared to consider this. "Forks Motel. It's just up the street." She pointed, and Edward turned left out of the parking lot.

It would have been as easy to walk to the Forks Motel as drive. Edward didn't comment as he pulled up in front of this motel and parked. Before he could get out, Bella snatched his hand, keeping him still. "I'm sorry," she said. "About the motel and my dad. The Pacific Inn…" She wasn't looking at him as she spoke. "Mike took me there once when there was a bug problem at his place."

"You don't have to apologize for how you feel." Edward brushed his fingertips against the side of her face and pushed her hair back over her ear. She looked up from under long eyelashes, clearly still fighting uncertainty. He could see the quiet misery in her eyes, like she would be crying if she was alone. "And you don't have to apologize for your dad either."

"I put him through a lot," she said, excusing him anyway. "I guess I can't blame him for thinking the worst."

"I think when you're growing up, everyone has this list of how they're going to be better at parenting than their parents." His heart gave a painful pang, and he breathed in as if through water. "When you have a child, you get this vision of what their life will be like, the things you'll teach them, and the things that could never, ever happen-not to your kid. Things like what happened to you are things we all want to believe only happen to other people's kids, people who don't raise their kids right."

"He wasn't a bad father."

"And you weren't a bad kid. Not then. Not now." He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't think your dad is an asshole. I think he made a mistake, saying what he said to you right now. I think he maybe has made a lot of mistakes saying the wrong thing. I think I understand where he's coming from, but nothing he said or did was helpful."

He took Bella's hands, looking at her. "I don't know how you feel about it, but maybe a little distance between you and your dad wouldn't be a bad thing right now. Do you want to stay with me? We can get a two bed room, or I can get you your own room."

"You wouldn't mind?" she asked, searching him.

He gave her a small smile. "No. You're good company."

Her lips twitched. "You don't get out much, do you?" She sounded tired, but there was a hint of life to her voice now. "If you really don't mind, I'll stay with you."

"Good," he said.

They got out of the car, and Edward's fingers twitched with the inexplicable urge to take her hand again. "Can I give you a hug?" he asked instead. He'd wanted to hug her since her father walked in on them.

She stopped mid-step and cocked her head, looking at him. "I'm not afraid of you, you know. You don't have to ask."

He took her hand and pulled her to him, wrapping her tight in his arms, her head tucked under his chin. With his hands pressed against her back, he could feel her take a deep breath. "Edward?" she murmured, her lips so close to his neck he could feel the vibration against his skin.

"Hmm?"

"I'm glad you're here."

He huffed, releasing her from the hug but not letting her go from the circle of his arms. "Really? Because that whole sordid scene wouldn't have happened if I wasn't here."

"Yeah it would have. Maybe not today, but it would have. You were right about being here. It was nice to have back up."

"I won't say it was my pleasure, because I am sorry you have to deal with this, Bella. Babies...if the world were perfect, they should always be good news." Edward felt a pang, remembering the joyous whoops of his parents and hers when Kate said those words-I'm pregnant. "But since the world is what it is, I'm glad I was here too."

He stepped away from her then, and they walked to the front door. Just before they went in, Bella stopped short. "Oh, dammit."

"What is it?"

She sighed, looking up at him with a tired and resigned expression. "Today isn't my day." She nodded surreptitiously in the direction of the front desk. "The girl behind the counter? We went to high school together, and she hated me."

"Do you want to go somewhere else?"

Bella shook her head. "No point. She already saw us. Besides, everyone will know about us soon enough. It's that kind of town." She gave a bitter laugh. "Poor Chief Swan. His wife ran off on him, and his daughter is obviously nothing but trouble."

Before Edward could refute that, Bella pushed the front door open, and he had to hurry to follow her inside.

"Bella Swan, is that you?" the blond behind the counter said in one of those saccharine-sweet voices Edward loathed.

"Hey, Lauren. I didn't know you were in town."

Lauren shrugged. "Summer job, you know? And I spend all my free time back in Seattle with my boyfriend. Speaking of which…" She turned her brilliant, and equally fake, smile on Edward. "Who is this?"

Edward put his driver's license on the counter, though he spared a brief smile for Lauren. "Edward Cullen. I'd like a room, please. Two beds."

The other woman's smile faltered just a bit, and she looked toward Bella who cleared her throat. "He's a friend."

"Oh." Lauren drew out the word and her smile widened. She took Edward's license, beginning to click away on her computer. "That makes more sense." She looked up at Bella, tilting her head with a knowing expression that made Edward want to shake her. "I know you have a thing for older men, but this one is really out of your league."

"Do you think I could get that room as quickly as possible?" Edward said, his tone clipped. "I'd really like to get settled in."

Irritation flashed across Lauren's face, but she nodded. "Of course, sir."

Some minutes later, Edward and Bella were back in the car, heading toward more permanent parking nearer their room. "So that was fun," Edward said, still chafing with unspent fury at the aggravating woman.

"Lauren Mallory. Yeah, she hasn't changed much. Today was honestly the most friendly she's ever been to me." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Last time I saw her, I was still in a cast. She said, if I was such an idiot to stay in an abusive relationship, then I deserved what I got, and I shouldn't have blamed him when I was the one who got him used to pushing me around."

Edward tightened his grip on the steering wheel, glad the car was parked. "Jesus Christ," he muttered under his breath. He opened his mouth, intent on damning Lauren into the arms of an abuser, but then he shut it again.

No, he wouldn't wish that kind of mistreatment on anyone.

"I don't know why she hates me," Bella said, her tone more curious than hurt. "We never really knew each other. She just always did."

"Why people hate strangers who've never hurt them is a mystery of life," Edward said. "If you figure that one out, let me know."

They got out, and Edward rescued his one bag from the trunk. Inside the room, Bella sat on one bed, and they made small talk while he put his things away. Then, as they lapsed into silence, Edward went to her. He dropped to his knees in front of her so he could look up into her eyes.

It had taken him this time to figure out what bothered him the most about Charlie's accusations. As he'd already said, he understood where the man was coming from to a large degree, but the whole situation reeked of injustice.

"What are you doing?" Bella asked, her eyebrows drawn together in confusion.

Edward took her hands in both of his. "I need to say this to you. I think you need to hear it." He put one of his hands gently against her belly. She started, but she didn't pull away. "No matter what anyone else says, you and I both know how this happened. Look, Bella, neither of us remembering birth control...well, we could have been smarter about that. I don't know how you see what happened between us, but for me, it was something special." He had to swallow hard around the ever-present lump in his throat. "There was...is...something between us. A connection, and we acted on it physically. There's honesty in that." He took her hands again and squeezed. "And it was one of the better nights of my life. Probably the best night in the last decade. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for what it's cost you, but I'm not sorry it happened."

Bella's eyes shone, and she grasped Edward's fingers as though for dear life. She slid off the bed to her knees beside him and wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him. He could feel she was trembling, though with fear or emotion, he couldn't tell.

After a handful of seconds, she pulled back, looking at him, and when she spoke, she whispered, "You are the only person I've ever chosen to sleep with." She pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. "I'm glad it was you."

Those words knocked the wind from Edward's lungs for many reasons. Yes, of course, he was pleased. One couldn't help feeling elated when a beautiful woman-one he had a great affection for-said something like that to him. But at the same time, those words broke his heart and left him with even more questions he wasn't sure he wanted the answer to.

Just how much had this girl suffered?

Edward was distracted from this thought when Bella kissed him, this time full on the mouth, and he was caught off guard by the jolt of electricity it sent through him. He remembered then the earth-shattering emotion he'd been caught up in just seconds before Charlie made his appearance. How feeling the evidence of the baby he and Bella had sparked together had opened his eyes to what he'd known about her since he first heard her speak.

There was something about this woman that made him want more.

What more was Edward didn't know. All he knew was back when they met, it had been relief when she kissed him, and when she pulled him into her room. All he knew now was when she kissed him, he felt he could take a deep breath for the first time in months.

He wrapped his arms around her and they both moved until they were sitting with their backs against the bed, tangled up in each other's embrace. They kissed slowly, fingers tracing cheeks or spines.

Everything else in their world might have been upside down, but despite what this connection between them had already cost them, it still felt right.

A/N: OMAI!

Oh. I entered the May to December contest. Link is in my profile. Some really great age gap stories. :) Check it out

Hehehe. I'll see you soon, guys. Thank you for all your love and support. MWAH.