AN: Sorry that I haven't updated in a few days. I have been conditioning for cross country, doing summer homework, and preparing for another vacation. Oh well. Here's the chapter now though. It's a long one too! Not to mention one that I really liked to write this one. I hope you think it's good!

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, and I am not making any money from this fanfiction.

Bella POV

I was in the basement with Renesmee. None of the Cullens had tried to intrude just yet, and that was a good thing. If they had I might have ripped their arms off. I think the Cullens were finally learning the definition of the word privacy.

Renesmee had stopped crying, and now she just stared blankly into space.

I sighed loudly. This was going to be hard for her to get over. I leaned forward, running my fingers through her hair in a calming manner. "Listen to me, Ren. I love you so much. You're my only daughter, and certainly my favorite one. I'd do anything to protect you. You need to understand I never would have let that mutt do anything else to you. Ever. I came right to your defense. You'll always be safe with me nearby. That's why we need to stick together."

Renesmee stared at me for a moment, and I wondered if I had said something wrong. Was she still not feeling secure enough to talk? But then she threw her arms around me. "I know, Mother. I trust you to keep me safe, and I trust you with my life."

I hummed softly to her. I didn't really know why, but I just thought it was nice. It seemed as if I was getting better at comforting others, and I was actually kind of liking it. Well, I liked comforting Renesmee. Everyone else in the house still held my ill feelings. I wasn't warming up to them in the least, and I couldn't wait till Renesmee and I broke out of their overbearing house.

Ren and I sat in silence then. Huh, when did I start calling my daughter Ren? It didn't really matter; it was a fitting nickname. For a moment I thought of the Loch Ness Monster. Why did Renesmee remind me of that? There had to be a reason. I tried to use my fast thinking vamp brain to figure it out, but it seemed as if the answered wasn't going to come to me. It was almost like it was lost in a haze…or blocked by something. A wall maybe? A large black, immobile wall?

"Mother," Renesmee whispered to me. It actually sounded like she was in pain, and I remembered the incident from before when Renesmee didn't have enough blood in her body. Was not drinking leaving her feeling the same way? Was she going to scream out and try to bite herself?

To me it seemed like a nightmare all over again, and I could only hope that wasn't the case. "Yes, Ren? What is it?"

"I…" she started off, swallowing loudly. She flinched from the action, and I knew something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong. She seemed to be breathing in short gasps. It was almost like she wasn't getting enough air. Wait, it was that! She was hyperventilating!

"Ren?" I shouted, placing my hands on her shoulders. Her eyes looked around hazily, and she glanced at me with half-lidded eyes. "Renesmee?" I was in a panic now, shaking her slightly. "Renesmee, what's wrong?"

"Mother," she breathed. "Mother, it hurts. I'm so thirsty. I can't take it anymore. It hurts so bad." She raised her hands to encircle her throat and continued her constant rasping. She was probably still weak from the incident in the clearing, and Renesmee had always needed more blood than I did. Now I didn't know what to do. The Cullens weren't going to let us hunt, and I very much doubted that Renesmee would even recognize a deer as food in this state.

It was then that her screaming started, and I realized this was another clearing nightmare, but this was worse. Much worse. She was still coherent, her hands now gripping my shirt as she shrieked with pain and animalistic instinct.

I could do nothing but pet her heard and murmur incoherent words to her. It seemed like my new comforting skills didn't extend to cover her unbearable pain.

"Bella?"

I looked to the top of the stairs and saw Edward standing there. He watched as Renesmee opened her mouth again, another screech echoing against the basement walls. It seemed as if horror was painted onto his face. It shone in his eyes, and I knew he thought about us as more than captives. But why?

I had never been one to beg. Never before had I pleaded, but now all I wanted to do was kneel at Edward's feet and grovel. I wanted to cry out for help as I never had before. I wanted him to save my daughter from the agony plaguing her. I wanted help as I had never wanted it before, and it honestly scared me.

He seemed to see my internal struggle, and he approached us. If I was my normal self, I would have thrown him away, but now I just accepted as he let his fingers lightly touch Renesmee's tear stained face. I was frightened he would hurt her, and I pulled her tighter to my chest. He noticed the action and lifted his eyes from Renesmee to me. I could tell that he was willing to help. I could tell just by looking at him. In his eyes I saw that knowledge I knew he had. I didn't trust him. At all. I knew I didn't want to trust him. With my whole heart I wished he would leave and let me go, but I knew it wouldn't happen. I hated it so much, but I knew. I knew I had to trust him. Renesmee needed me to. Just this once. Just this one time. This would be the only time I would ever seek Edward Cullen's help.

"Edward, save Renesmee," I whispered. "Make her pain stop. Give her the blood she craves."

His face tightened, and I knew he was struggling internally. He was willing to help before, but he didn't know she needed this. He couldn't decide if giving her human blood was the right thing to do. Even though he and I both knew she needed it, his morals stood in the way of him completely caving and letting her feed. He valued the lives of humans too much. No, it wasn't just that. He didn't want to face the rejection of his family. He wasn't the only one that valued human life. They all did, and they would have wanted him to turn away. They wouldn't want Renesmee to have human blood. They wouldn't want us to kill anyone. But for some reason, Edward cared more than the others. He felt more strongly about Renesmee and I. It was like he knew us and liked us, but I knew that was preposterous. Edward and I had only fought before. The only words passed between us were ones of argument. Weren't they?

"Edward," I repeated. "Save my daughter. She's suffering so much."

Just then, Renesmee let out another heart wrenching sob. Her chest heaved, and her lips parted even more as she tried to pull in enough air to satiate her aching lungs. She kept one hand tangled in my shirt, but she put the other one on her throat, and I knew it had to be burning in an untamable torture. I bit my lip to keep my own sob from escaping me. My daughter could very well be dying, and all I could do was watch. I had to appear strong though. I was the strong, wild one, and I had to keep it up around the Cullens. Even my own daughter couldn't know that she was breaking me. If I was a human, I don't know if I would have been able to keep in the tears that would have been pushing to leak from my eyes.

I reached my hand out to Edward, resting it on the lower half of his arm. He looked directly into my eyes, and I still saw indecision there. "Please, Edward, please. Please help her. Let me starve, but don't let my daughter go on like this."

I knew that he was shocked by her sudden need for blood, but I was certain there was reason behind it. We hadn't hunted in a long while, and the stress from Jacob's attack must have fully set her off.

Edward glanced back at her once more. He stared at her with an emotion I had only seen a few times before, and I had no idea why he was staring at my daughter with it. What right did he have? Why did he think he could gaze at her with love? Before my thoughts could protest any further, he said, "I'll do it, Bella. I'll help Renesmee."