A/N: I'm giving another shout out to Anam because she is just so awesome. ;)

IMPORTANT: I had this chapter posted earlier, but I decided that I didn't like who Edward blames for the past, so I changed it. (For people who haven't read this chapter yet, IGNORE THIS MESSAGE. It doesn't affect any previous chapters.)

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers own Twilight.

Chapter 15. Surprises

This morning has officially sucked.

First, I woke up late because I didn't get much sleep from worrying about the conversation I would be having with Edward, then as I was halfway to Riley's daycare center, I remembered that it was closed on Tuesdays which meant that I had to take him to work with me. Then when I got to the office, I spilled coffee all over myself. It was a good thing that I carried a spare change of clothes with me whenever I had Riley with me at work. And lastly, as I was trying to get a couple of copies made, the copy machine broke.

I had only been at the office for 20 minutes, and I was already stressed out. Then to make matters worse, I was basically being forced to listen to Icky Thump over and over again by my 2 year old.

Just when I thought I could relax for a moment, Carmen called me on the intercom to inform me that Edward Cullen was here and she was sending him in to see me.

As soon as he walked in, he stopped and said,"Are you listening to Icky Thump by The White Stripes?"

I sighed and told him, "Yes. My son Riley is absolutely obsessed with this song."

Edward smirked at me and began to walk towards me again only to stop when the realization of what I just said dawned on him. "You have a son?"

I walked over to Riley and picked him up. "Edward, meet my son Riley." I looked at Riley. "Riley this is Mr. Edward. Say hello." Riley turned away from Edward and hid his face in my neck.

"He's a bit shy with strangers," I explained. I put Riley back down to play and went back to my desk to sit. When I looked at Edward, he was still staring at Riley. "Edward?" He looked over at me.

"Yeah?"

"I know you still have some questions left over from yesterday, so why don't we get those taken care of before we get to work?" I offered.

"Right." He turned towards me and looked me right in the eyes and asked, "Why do you owe James your life?"

I took a deep breath before answering and looked away from his gaze. Very softly, I said, "I owe him my life because he stopped me from killing myself." I was expecting Edward to say something, but all I got was silence. When I looked back at him, all the color had drained from his face and his eyes were closed, no doubt trying to process what I had just told him.

His voice wavered slightly when he asked me, "You really tried to kill yourself? How? I mean, why would you do something like that!?" By the time he was finished talking, I noticed a few tears running down his face.

"Yes, I really tried to kill myself. I took the same gun my mom used and went to this meadow I found while I was hiking one day." My eyes were watering at the memory, but my voice stayed strong as I continued. "I was standing in the clearing with the gun pressed to my head and my finger on the trigger, but before I could pull it, James stepped into the clearing and yelled at me to stop." I was full on crying at this point, but I wasn't done yet. "He sat me down and talked to me and hugged me when I cried. He became my friend because he cared enough about a stranger to stop them from killing themselves. He was there when no else was."

I looked at Edward once again and saw a few different emotions cross his face. I saw sadness, regret, and anger. I didn't ask him about what he was feeling though. He didn't have to. Even though we hadn't been close for a long time, I still knew him well enough to know why he would feel those particular emotions.

He felt sad because it hurts to know that someone you cared about was once willing to end their life.

He felt regret because he ignored me like everyone else, and knew deep down in his heart that he was partially responsible for how I felt back then.

He felt anger towards himself for not being a better person and a better friend, but I also got the feeling that he was angry with someone else too. I just didn't know who.

Edward quickly stood up and began to pace back and forth while pulling at his hair. It was something he did when he was upset or frustrated.

It looked like he was both.

He also looked like he was struggling to keep himself together. So while I gave him a few minutes, I led Riley out of my office and walked him over to Carmen's desk.

"Hey Carmen? Can you watch Riley for a little while?"

Carmen looked at us and said, "Sure, no problem. Is everything okay?"

I glanced towards my office and then back to Carmen before lowering my voice so only she could hear me. "You know how Edward and I go way back?" She nodded. I had told her all about our history after I left work yesterday. "Well, I told him about how I first met James, and he kind of freaked out. I think he may be having a small meltdown."

"Is he going to be okay?" she asked, sounding concerned.

"I'm sure he'll be fine. He just needs a bit of time to calm down."

"And what about you?"

"What about me?" I asked.

"Are you okay? Do you want me to call Security, just in case he get out of hand?"

"Carmen, I'm fine. Really." I let out a deep breath and said, "And Security won't be necessary. I promise. Like I said, he just needs some time to cool off. I trust him."

Carmen just looked at me for a second before saying, "Okay, if you're sure. Would you like me to cancel the rest of your appointments for today and reschedule them?" I nodded at her.

"That would be great. Thanks."

Before I walked back to my office, I told Riley to be good for Carmen, and that I would come back for him in a little while.

When I got back to my office, I closed the door behind me and walked over to Edward. He had stopped pacing and was now sitting on the black leather sofa that was located in the center of the room.

As I sat down next to him, I asked, "Edward? Are you okay?" He stood up and started pacing again before he answered.

"Honestly, Bella?" I nodded. "No, I'm not okay. How can you honestly think that I would be okay after hearing that?" I didn't answer, so he continued, "Fuck! We never meant to hurt you, Bella, but we didn't have a choice back then because they made us. They forced us to treat you like that. Knowing what I do now, I don't think I can ever forgive them for doing what they did, not just to you, but to all of us. We all suffered too." He sat back down next to me and put his head in his hands. "We were hurting too, but we had each other. You didn't have anyone else. Well, you had James, but we didn't know that. And it was all because of them."

I went from being worried to being completely confused in a matter of minutes. I had no idea what he was talking about, so I did what any normal person would do.

I asked him.

"Edward, what are going on about? Who forced you all to treat me so horribly?"

When he looked at me, he was crying again and the look on his face was pure agony, and it made my heart hurt.

The words that came out of his mouth next shocked me.

"It was our parents."

A/N: Wow. I bet you didn't see that one coming! As much as I hate to leave my readers hanging like that, I had to. It's a writer's job to keep you wanting more. ;)

I would really like to know what you think of this chapter, so feel free to leave a review if you want.

And I promise that everything will be further explained in the next chapter in case you didn't understand what happened.

Also, I just had to mention one of my favorite songs again in this chapter. It's called Icky Thump by The White Stripes. I put the youtube link for the music video on my profile.

Thanks for reviewing, favoriting, and following my story.

See you next time! :)