The next day, Edward still hadn't left the hospital. He'd driven Tanya home so she could get some rest before returning to the waiting room, slumped over in a chair. He didn't know why he'd returned. Logically, the girl shouldn't mean anything to him anymore.. he'd cut ties with her, avoided her attempts to heal their relationship. Tanya would be furious if she knew the thoughts racing through his head.. he was remembering everything. All the times Bella had been there for him.. been there to comfort him. Lately, he hadn't been there at all for her.. he wondered if anyone had been. Before he couldn't remember the shy girl having any friends besides himself... So who had held her fragile heart together when he'd left.

"Edward Cullen?!" a shrill high pitched voice rang out. "You have a hell of a lot of nerve to show up here!" she called out as she ran toward him her little fists balled up and prepared to punch. Edward didn't even move to stop her. However strong arms did as they wrapped around her tiny body, stopping her short and leaving the pixie sputtering.

"Alice," Jasper Hale, one of the few that had gotten close to Edward before he'd dated Tanya sighed softly. "Alice dear, you know he's not worth it right? We're here for Bella. Let's just concentrate on Bella, alright?" he persuaded his infuriated little girl friend. The girl grumbled, clearly upset she hadn't gotten in a punch or two before she'd been stopped.

"Jasper," Edward said softly, hardly meeting the other's eyes as he nodded in his in recognition of his presence.

"Edward," Jasper replied with a similar nod. Though his cool blue eyes searched Edward's, attempting to fight a sliver of his old best friend within him.

Alice continued wiggling in Jasper's arms, and it became clear the man wouldn't be able to hold her down for too long, she was a kicking ball of energy. "Look fucktard, we all know you're the reason she's here. Where's your fuck buddy huh? Couldn't even be troubled to come to her own sister's hospital room to visit a while before she dies?" she spat cruelly.

"Bella.. Bella isn't going to die," Edward trailed off, eyes lost. No Bella couldn't die.. for some reason he couldn't bare the thought of her so cold and unmoving. Like his mother had been in her casket. He'd felt sick the day of Esme's funeral. She was dressed in her favorite dress, and the mortician had made her smile. The smile was what had haunted him the most. In her life Esme had, had such a beautiful smile.. one she could give to any child and their worries would go away. A smile Edward needed dearly at the moment. But in that cold little box her smile hadn't comforted him, it had terrified him.. He couldn't even imagine seeing such a smile on Bella's face.

"There's a very good chance she could," Alice pointed out despite Jasper's silencing look. "She probably will. And it's your fault you know! If my best friend dies, it'll be all your fault! She loved you Edward, didn't you know that? Didn't you fucking care she loved you?" the pixie hissed.

"I..I cared," Edward stuttered, childhood shyness coming back to him. He didn't feel as strong as he did with Tanya by his side standing alone with Jasper and Alice. He felt guilty.. and like he wanted to disappear more than nothing else.

"Isn't that sweet honey? Asshole says he fucking cared," Alice spat with a humorless laugh. "If you'd ever gave a damn about Bella you wouldn't have abandoned her like you did asshat. But you already know that, don't you?" she questioned accusingly. "You already know you fucked up don't you?"

"I.. I don't love her," Edward trailed off, eyes on the ground. He counted the number of tiles on the floor, attempting to ignore the two in front of him. "I didn't love her.. I don't.. I just.. I just cared. But caring wasn't enough for her.. I don't want to talk about this right now. Like you said, this is about Bella. Not about me.. please.. just stop," he begged hopelessly, tugging at his hair.

"I wonder if you ever stopped when she begged you to," Alice muttered, shaking her head. Jasper sighed, obviously beginning to get fed up with his girlfriend's attitude. While he supported her.. he didn't think this the proper venue to take down Edward Cullen.

"Come on Alice, let's go check on her," Jasper trailed off, tugging at his girlfriend's hand. Alice nodded reluctantly, turning away from Edward as she travelled down the hallway. She had to admit he did look like he was sorry. The boy sat in the chair with his hands pulling at his hair didn't seem like the arrogant bastard that had made Bella the way she was.. She was beginning to feel sorry for him, to the point she had to force herself to remember all the things she'd gone through with Bella to hate him once more. He didn't deserve her pity.. She'd never forgive him for what he'd done to Bella. Even if Bella did.

Seeing Charlie completely withered holding his eldest daughter's hand, Alice frowned. She squeezed Jasper's hand before making her way over to the man. "How are you Charlie?" she asked worriedly as she pulled up a chair next to his, resting a hand on his shoulder.

"How... how do you think I am?" Charlie questioned morosely, he seemed like he hadn't slept in weeks even though it had only been a day. The stress of the situation was clearly wearing on the middle aged man, and Alice was beginning to worry for his health.

"How's our girl?" she questioned, hoping he had a bit of good news for her.

"Fighting," Charlie answered with a smile. "But she's always been a fighter hasn't she Alice? he questioned with a soft laugh. "Our girl will pull through. I know she will.. Hell, I need her to.." he trailed off, tears beginning to appear in the corner of his eyes. "Why does bad luck always find her Alice? Answer me that." the man demanded. He hadn't meant to fall apart in front of his daughter's best friend. But he didn't have anyone else to fall apart in front of. Sue was out of town, rushing back now that she'd heard the news of Bella. He didn't know how long he could go on like his, shouldering everything.

"I can't answer that Charlie," Alice sighed as she stared at Bella's pale, sleeping face. "I wish I could but I can't.. maybe after this she'll become even stronger though. She's so excited to go off to university. I know she'll have a blast.. if she can just get through this.." the young woman trailed off, feeling tears well in her own eyes. Bella was always so strong in front of strangers.. She never let her guard down unless it was with just Alice or Angela. Seeing her in this best, was one of the hardest things Alice had ever had to face.

"Has she gone through surgery yet?" Jasper questioned, going to hug his girlfriend in an attempt to soothe her a bit.

"Yes, they operated this morning. They said they did what they could.. Now all we do is wait for her to wake up... Pray that she wakes up. I don't know how much more I can handle of all this sitting and waiting.." Charlie trailed off, swiping at his forehead. Alice smiled at him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"You look like you could use some rest Chief. Why don't you go home and take a shower, and Jasper and I will sit here while you go take care of things?" Alice suggested with a kind smile, hoping she'd take his offer. She knew Bella wouldn't want her father to be in such a state of worry.

"That's mighty nice of you Alice.. I'll be back as soon as I can, take care of our girl," Charlie smiled, picking up his coat he left after pressing a kiss to Bella's forehead and whispering in her ear something Alice didn't catch. Once the Chief was gone, Jasper sighed and took the seat that he had emptied.

"What're we going to do Alice?" he questioned quietly, looking sick himself.

"Wait I suppose Jazzy... That's all we can do. Wait and hope that she wakes up... I just hope Edward and Tanya stay as far away as they can from this room.. You and Em might have to physically stop them, but I don't give a damn. The two bastards don't deserve to see Bella," Alice sniffled as she stroked the back of her best friend's hand. "Bells.. If you can hear me, please wake up soon you here? I know you're tired.. and you probably want to let go. But I love you, and so does Jazz, and Em, And Rose and Angela.. Hell so many people love you. You have to pull through you understand me young lady. You have to!" as the tears streamed down her face, Jasper hugged her even tighter, taking out a handkerchief to wipe away her tears.

"Alice, you know she'll be okay. If she can survive what happened to her heart.. I think that girl can survive anything."

Bella smiled at Edward as they walked to lunch together. Over the past few weeks the two freshman had been getting closer and closer. "I hope it stays the way it is now next year.." Bella trailed off, worry clear in her tone as they walked along the dirtied pavement of Forks High School and into the dingy cafeteria.

"What do you mean?" Edward asked curiously as he took a seat next to his new best friend. He was happy to have met a girl like Bella. He hadn't had any friends at his last school.. Carlisle moved so often for his job, whenever a better offer came up the doctor was off to a new town. He seemed to like Forks though, so Edward was hopeful he'd stay for some time.

"My sister graduates from middle school next year," Bella shrugged as she unwrapped her sandwich.

"Why would a new freshie cause problems?" he teased her as he opened his own lunch bag and pulled out an apple. Everyone avoided the two of them, it was as if they were in their own personal bubble. Half the students thought Bella a freaked because of how quiet she was, and the others were so afraid Edward would end up killing everyone they kept their distance.

"My sister just.. has a way of influencing people I guess," Bella shrugged. "She always has.. when we were younger we'd have sleepovers, and she'd invite her friends.. if I ever got too close to one of them she'd snap at me.. and make all of them dislike me.. Truthfully I think I felt bad for them.. all of them were under her thumb... I don't think any of them had a will of their own," she sighed. "Tanya's a queen bee I suppose.. and I doubt things will be different in high school.. despite her age," she offered as she played with the stem of her apple. She actually seemed worried about this, something that made Edward frown.

"What exactly are you afraid of?" he questioned.

"Being all alone I guess," Bella shrugged. "It's weird.. when you're all alone, you sort of get used to it.. you're comfortable with it... It doesn't bother you so much because it's what you've always had. But once you get close to people.. and get used to that feeling of no longer being alone.. I think it's hard to go back to the way you were.. Because then you have something to miss.." she trailed off nervously, a bit worried of what he'd think.

"You're worried I'm going to leave for Tanya?" Edward questioned, seeming amused by the idea.

"Yes," she admitted, blushing and staring down at her lunch bag.

"Look Bella, we're friends alright? And best friends just don't abandon their best friends for their best friend's sisters, got it?" he mused, a smirk pulling at the corner of his lips. "I'll make sure you're never alone Bella, understand me?" Edward assured her. "You won't ever be as long as I'm at Forks High, I'll look after you. I'll be your protector, like a teddy bear to a four year old, got it?" he questioned as he teased her hair with his hand.

The smile he was rewarded with left him beaming. "Got it," Bella giggled, finishing her sandwich quickly. She smiled, and the rest of lunch was filled with lighter talk of what was going on in the news, and what bands were coming out with new albums next year. As a group of boys came near the table, Bella frowned and got quieter, shyness getting the better of her.

"Hey Emo Edward, got a girlfriend now? Baby Bella has a boyfriend? That's rich," one of the boys called out with a laugh.

Edward turned, his eyes filled with anger. "Don't you say a damn word about her, got it Michael? You breathe a word about her and I'll crush you understood? You can say whatever you want about me. All of it's lies anyway. But you leave her the hell alone, got it?" he growled. Bella's eyes widened, this was a side of him she'd never seen before. But she was happy he was sticking up with her, even though she knew she'd have to tell him to drop it later. The boys had always made fun of her, and it wasn't that big of a deal. What was a bit of name calling?

"Whatcha gonna do Emo Edward? Cut yourself and make it look like I did it?" Mike cackled, earning chuckles from his friends. They all seemed amused at how the boy teased Edward. That, or they were just sucking up due to the fact Mike's family made a great deal of money, who wouldn't want to be invited to the parties he threw? There was always beer, and girls as far as the rumors went.

"Don't you fucking worry about what I'm going to do, just keep your mouth shut," Edward hissed, standing up and pushing Mike back away from him. The blonde's eyes widened, it was obvious he wasn't used to people standing up to him, especially not the likes of lanky little Edward.

"You just gonna let him do that to me?" Mike demanded of his lackeys. Sooner than Bella could blink, all the boys were jumping on Edward and throwing punches at him. By the end of it, a few teachers had to come split all of them up and nearly half of the sophmore class was in the principals office. Bella waited after school, hoping to see Edward and make sure that he was alright. He came out last, his father following behind him. Bella waved drawing his attention, and she watched as Edward said a few words to his father before he ran over to her.

"You didn't have to do that you know," Bella pointed out quietly. "You didn't have to stand up to me, I don't mind their name calling.. I've learnt to ignore it," she said softly as she stared at all his wounds. He had two black eyes and a split lip, along with other bruises she knew were there but couldn't see

"I know I didn't have to do it," Edward sighed.

"Then why did you?" the girl demanded.

"Because like hell am I going to let someone make fun of my only friend and get away with it!"

Thank you to all the reviewers ^^. I really appreciate all of the reviews I'm getting, positive or negative feedback is always welcome. Thanks you guys, see you next chapter.

~BooksAreLonely