Thanks so much for all the reviews! I'm glad you are enjoying this little story, and I hope you like this chapter.

"What were you thinking!?" Edward froze in the doorway, sighing deeply. He'd managed to evade Carlisle and Emmett for most of the night, but he had to see her…and he couldn't avoid this forever. He'd made a mistake…the image of her crying in her bedroom….her soft sobs echoing in the forest, haunted him, and after Alice had tracked him down and told him what an idiot he was…what this was going to do to her…

Alice had showed up in the forest, her features twisted into a snarl as she'd tackled him, her fury taking him by surprise. "Alice, what…"

"Shut up and watch you moron!" She'd snapped, staring into his eyes as she pinned him to the ground. Unable to do much more without actually hurting his sister, he'd done as she'd asked, then instantly regretted it. They were images of Bella…. lying on her bed, catatonic, sick in the bathroom, refusing to eat, sobbing beside her window, screaming in her sleep…he had shook his head, trying to dislodge the images, but Alice was relentless. Bella staring lifelessly at her desk, Bella being shaken by her terrified father, Bella with too many pills in her hand…Bella cold and still…

"Stop!" He'd screamed, agony in his voice. "Please Alice!" Abruptly she was focusing on him again, tucking the visions away.

"She needed you." Alice's voice had grown a little gentler, but her hands hadn't allowed him to move. "She wanted to finish her party…she was just doing it for us, but she was having a good time, and then you hurt her."

"Jasper…"

"Jasper didn't mean to hurt her…he could no more control his actions than Bella could control getting that paper cut. But she sought him out and they are fine. Jasper loves Bella! We all do. But you hurt her! You were the one that scared her, and then you left her." He'd closed his eyes, lying still on the ground as Alice stood. "It's going to kill her." She had said simply, crossing her arms. "We're going to try to help her…but she's going to die without you. She needs you Edward, just as much as you need her.

As Edward had watched her go, he had been tormented by the images Alice had shown him…unable to stop thinking of Bella's lifeless eyes as she poured a handful of pills out of a bottle whose label he couldn't read. And he had known that he couldn't do this…he had to go back and make things right.

"Let my by, Jasper!" Carlisle and Emmett stood a little ways behind him, having tracked him back to the house, and Jasper stood in the doorway, arms crossed across his chest, all very carefully thinking only about Edward, causing him some confusion, but not enough to be distracted.

"And let you hurt her again!? I don't think so!" Emmett snarled, shoving past him to stand by Jasper in the doorway. They all slipped on the word 'hurt', and Edward was assaulted by half images…Bella in the forest, Emmett sinking his teeth into Laurent's neck, Carlisle placing a hand on Bella's face, staring into her dull eyes.

If his heart could have stopped it would have. " What happened? Let me see her!"

"Why would you say that to her!? Do you have any idea how much you hurt her!" Emmett ignored his request, instead focusing again on Edward, much to his frustration.

"What happened to her?!" He needed to see her…something had happened. Something involving Laurent…he need to know what. He could hear her heartbeat, the steady cadence that everyone could hear reassuring him that she was asleep somewhere upstairs, but he had to know what had happened.

"What do you care?" Jasper snarled. "It was all a mistake, right? You don't want her." Edward flinched when Jasper threw his own words…words designed to make her let go….to force her to move on with her life so that he couldn't hurt her anymore, back in his face.

"I couldn't put her in any more danger." He tried to explain himself, but no one was moved.

"And what? Did you think Victoria would give up!? She sent Laurent to kill Bella! And you weren't there to protect her." Emmett growled at him, his large fists clenched. Edward closed his eyes as the rest of the story was silently given to him. She had been in the woods…with Laurent, as Emmett and Jasper had broken through the trees. He hovered over her, one hand on her shoulder, the other on her face, as his lips nearly touched her neck, his white teeth gleaming as they prepared to pierce her skin. But the most painful part was her face, streaked with tears as she stood in the same clearing Edward had left her in…she'd obviously been there all day and he wondered why. She looked…resigned, though still terrified, as she waited for death.

But then his brothers had reached them, Jasper grabbing her as gently as he could and pulling her away while Emmett tackled the vampire, pinning him to the ground and ripping his head off. Jasper was suddenly forced to support Bella's weight as she collapsed, her terrified scream echoing around them. Edward could almost feel her in his arms from Jasper's memory, her hot tears soaking into his shirt, his arms supporting her weight…then the dull way she looked at him, her pupils dilated and her eyes leaking tears that Emmett tried to wipe away as he begged her to speak to him.

"Stop!" Edward pleaded. He couldn't bear it…could bear seeing her in so much pain…pain that he'd caused.

"I warned you, Edward." His father said softly, coming to stand beside him, resting a firm hand on his shoulder. "She trusted you…you've placed yourself so firmly in her life…it was unbearable for her when you ripped yourself back out. She won't be able to move on…she's a part of our family now. We don't abandon our family." He chided his son.

"I…wanted to keep her safe." Edward pleaded with his father. "I was only gone a day but…" He choked on his words. "I can't do this. I can't live without her."

"I know." Carlisle have him a grim smile. "I already knew that." Edward sighed...his father was truly upset with him, even if he was being kind about it as always. His eyes were disapproving. 'I told you not to leave her Edward...what you did was cruel... especially to Bella, but to all of us...asking us to choose between the two of you. Do you know how much you hurt Esme, asking that of her? She loves Bella like her daughter.' For a moment, Carlisle focused on Esme as she sobbed into her husband's arms, the pain of letting her son leave...of having to choose between her beloved son and her new little girl. 'Do you know how close Emmett and Jasper were to being too late to save her? Or what Bella went through? She was nearly killed without you there to protect her. How would your brothers have felt then? If they'd been too late to save her?'

He winced, glancing over at his brothers who were obviously attached to the human girl. Before he could think on the further, he was suddenly distracted by Jasper's grimace and felt Bella's pain through his brother's gift. Jerking away from his father, he started to race to her room, only to be stopped by Emmett's arms pinning him. "Let me go!" He snarled at his brother, thrashing as much as he could under his brother's impossible strength. The arms tightened until they hurt and Edward froze, glaring up at him.

Jasper strolled past them, rolling his eyes at the theatrics as he hurried up the stairs, and Edward resigned himself to watch through Jasper's mind as he stepped through the doorway. Alice held the girl in her arms as Bella curled into a ball, her own arms wrapped around herself as she cried silently. It went against every instinct he had to watch her in so much pain and not do anything. 'But what can I do?' He had to ask himself. 'This is my fault.'

"She just woke up." Alice said softly, her hands uselessly rubbing Bella's back and hair. "She won't respond to me at all." Jasper sat on the edge of the bed and Edward saw her eyes more closely, the image making him sick. Her large brown eyes were red and dull, lifeless as they stared straight ahead. She didn't react when Jasper placed a hand on her forehead, nor did she answer when he called her name.

"Please, Emmett." Edward whispered, letting himself relax in his brother's hold and looking into his fierce eyes. "Please." For a moment, Emmett had shared a look with Carlisle, who Edward saw nod in his mind, and then he was free, flying up the stairs.

The door to Alice's room was open and he hesitated in the doorway, meeting Alice's eyes as his sister and Jasper moved away from Bella, both eyeing him warily as they passed him, leaving him alone with Bella.

The girl didn't make any sign that she'd noticed Alice or Jasper leaving, only lying curled in a ball on top of the covers, her eyes leaking silent tears as she stared straight ahead. Stepping forward, Edward moved into her line of sight. Nothing. No response. A little surprised, and even more worried than before, Edward stepped up to the bed. "Bella?" He asked, frowning more deeply when she still didn't respond, his chest tight with anxiety as he watched her seemingly lifeless form. Walking over to a chair in the corner, he grabbed a thick quilt thrown over the back, and draped it over her, providing more protection than the thin sheet, and climbed into bed in front of her, one hand cupping her cheek. "Sweetheart, can you hear me?" He asked, his voice pained, and bit his lip when she didn't respond. "Please, Bella? I'm so sorry. Please say something."

It seemed to take a minute for the words to sink in, but slowly her eyes seemed to focus, flitting around the room and finally coming to rest on his face. "Edward." She whispered his name so hesitantly that his still heart seemed to ache.

"It's me Bella. I'm so sorry. Oh, Bella." He wiped at her tears, pulling her closer when her face crumpled and she began to sob in earnest. "I can never tell you how sorry I am. I love you so much…I thought it would keep you safe. I'm so sorry."

"You're…not mad…anymore?" She choked out through her sobs.

"No, love. I'm not mad. Please don't cry. I'm sorry. I was being completely unreasonable Bella…I just wanted to protect you. I promise, I didn't mean any of it." She wept harder, clenching her fists around his shirt and pressing closer, her forehead resting against his shoulder as her tears soaked into his shirt. "I will always love you." He promised, shuddering to think of the future he almost created. 'I almost killed her…and not in the way I feared I would. She could have died because of me.' He knew that, had that happened, he would have found a way to die as well, taking any chance he could get at maybe seeing her again in whatever afterlife he was allowed.

She cried for a long time, her entire body pressed against his, her hands holding his shirt as tightly as she could, as though she thought he would leave again. He realized that she probably did and held her tighter as well, careful as always not to hurt her. "I won't leave." He promised over and over. "Never again. I love you so much…I could never leave you." And he wouldn't…couldn't. He couldn't imagine causing her pain like this again…he thought his body would rip apart from the pain it was causing him now, but he bore it, gladly. He deserved it, he knew, and he would endure it until she was okay again.

I thought I was dreaming…or hallucinating when I felt Edward's arms around me again. I'd given up all hope that he'd ever hold me again…that he'd ever want to be near me. But here he was, his arms tight around me, the cold bleeding through the blanket, and I wondered how I would ever let go. Again and again he told me that he loved me…that he was sorry, and I wondered if it made me weak that I forgave him so easily…that I took him right back after he caused me so much pain. But the thought of moving away from his shoulder where my face was firmly pressed brought another wave of terror and pain, so I pushed the thought away. I had Edward back…I had my family. That was all I needed.

I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew I was assaulted by sunlight, the room suddenly much brighter than before. Groaning softly at the light and not willing to open my eyes, I rolled over, snuggling into the cold stone that….that thought stopped my mind in its tracks and my eyes opened on their own, widening when I found myself staring into the familiar light brown eyes. I tensed, waiting for the pain to return, but it had receded to a dull ache. "You're back." I whispered, and he smiled sadly, one cold hand cupping my face.

"I am." He said softly, stroking my cheek with his thumb.

"Are you staying?" The question managed to bring some of the pain back, and he pulled me closer so that our noses nearly touched.

"As long as you want me. I'm so sorry." His eyes were full of self-loathing as he leaned his forehead against mine. "My behavior was completely inexcusable…unforgivable."

"I forgive you." I whispered, unable to stop myself from moving closer, tucking my head under his, desperate to get as close as I could to him. The thought of him leaving again had the pain flaring back up, my body instinctively curling into a ball once again. His hand stroked my back, his body curling around mine.

"You shouldn't…but thank you. I am truly sorry Bella. I thought….well, it doesn't matter…"

"Just don't do it again." I mumbled, aiming for a light tone, but my voice came out strangled and pained, and he kissed my forehead.

"I won't leave you again Bella…not until you ask me to."

"I'll never ask you to." I couldn't imagine ever wanting this pain again…that emptiness I hadn't thought I could live through. "I'll want you with me forever."

"That suits me." He kissed my forehead again, holding me close until my body began to relax, uncurling as I snuggled against him.

Thank you for reading. There is only one more chapter planned. Don't hold me to that though