Sad Tales.

BPOV.

My mind was racing a mile a minute. I had just agreed to go out for a drink with Edward. I needed Alices help. I rounded the corner and caught up with her as she was leaving for the day.

"Alice! Oh good you haven't gone home yet. I need your help."

"Bellaaa." She whined, "I just pulled a double. I need my bed. Please don't tell me I have more work to do." She continued on in her whiny voice.

"Alice stop. No you don't have to do more work. I.. I just... I've agreed to go for a drink with Edward after work. I need some info on what he's like out of work."

Alice's eyes went wide and a shit eating grin spread across her face. "Oh Bella, this is huge! Edward hasn't seen anyone since the incident. Sure he sleeps around a bit but they are usually skanks he's picked up in bars. Not in a long time has he actually asked a person out. All those rumours about him being a womanizer are not all true. Oh my days. I never thought I'd see the day when he got back out there. Please Bella, Edward os a good man. He just comes across as a jerk to push people away." Alice continued to rabbit on and I found it hard to keep up. "Bella, please listen to me!" Alice slapped my arm.

"Ouch Alice!" I cried, rubbing my stinging skin.

"Pay attention to me then." She pouted. "As I was saying, if you do decide to persue something further with Edward, take it slowly. He tends to push people away if he fears they are getting too close to the real him. Oh Bella, you have no idea how happy this made me. Good luck!" She dashed out of the doors and towards the parking garage before I could blink. I stood there slightly dazed, wondering what the hell just happened.

"Bella! There you are." Edward jogged up to me. "All ready to go?"

"Uhh... I just need to grab my bag. Wait here for me." I walked off to the locker room, my head swirling with questions.

EPOV.

"What would you like to drink Bella?" We were stood at the bar in a hotel near the lab. I always come here for a quiet drink after a tough case.

"I'll have a half pint please." She murmured, blushing away.

I finally caught the barmans attention. "I'll have a half pint and a Budwieser thanks." I called over the music, slapping a twenty down on the counter. "Keep the change."

I grabbed our drinks and lead the way over to a small round table in the corner of the room. The music was a bit more muted here and we would be able to hear each other talk.

"Thank you for agreeing to come out with me today Bella."

"My pleasure Edward. Thank you for the drink, but I think you are avoiding the real reason you asked me out. Tell me, please." She said softly, placing her small hand on my forearm.

I couldn't fight the inevitable. Here goes nothing.

"My sister and I were always close growing up, but once we hit our teens we started to drift apart. I was a hard worker, always got straight A's. Makenna, not so much.
She got into the wrong crowd, started using, then dealing, to selling herself on street corners. My parents and I fought with her constantly to get herself clean. By that time she had already had Chad.
She left him with us, or rather my parents. I was away at college at the time. Makenna finally saw sense after a 'client' beat the ever loving shit out of her. She got help, became clean and was a good mom to Chad.
Then her old pimp started calling around again. Demanded to see his 'son'. Makenna always went with them. She fell pregnant with Beth not long after. When the father found out he beat her again. The baby survived, but Macs spirit was broken. She was never the same since. My parents pressed charges on both men, but nothing came of it because Mac refused to testify. She was beyond caring. It broke my parents hearts.
In the end they decided to put Makenna in an institute and Chad and Beth were raised by us. They were wonderful children. Bright, funny happy. Reminded me a lot of myself and Mac when we were growing up.
It was Chad's eighth birthday and we had arranged a big party for him. All of his class mates and a few people who worked with me came. The party was going great until my mother received a phonecall that would change all our lives.
Due to a security mix up at the institution where Mac was, she had somehow gotten free and had fled the building. We had felt it was safe enough to carry on with the party considering there was a lot of police there anyway. How wrong we all were. Mac got in and coaxed her kids inside the house, locking everyone else out in the process. With so many people there, nobody noticed anything unusual until we heard the gunshot. By then it was too late to save them.
Makenna had drowned her children in the bathtub, put them to bed and then blew her brains out in their room.
Three members of my family gone just like that. Snuffed out because someone failed to do their job properly. When that photograph in my locker was taken was the last time I saw those two kids alive. I keep it as a reminder of happier times."

I had gone through several more beers whle telling Bella my story and tears were silently streaming down both our faces.

"Oh Edward. I'm so sorry for your loss." Bella wrapped her arms around me and let me cry on her shoulder.

If it wasn't for the fact that I was sobbing my eyes out like a little bitch, I would of been happy to be so close to her boobs.

Poor Edward. Such a sad ending to the lives of his family.

Let me know what you think.

Much love xx