A/N: It took me awhile to get his chapter started because my seasonal allergies decided to make an appearance late last night and I don't feel to great right now, but even though I'm not feeling well, I wanted to get his chapter done for all of you. :)

Anam, I hope this clears things up a bit for you. ;)

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers own Twilight.

Chapter 16. Explanations

I sat there stunned for a few moments while I let Edward's answer sink in. When I found my voice again, I said, "Wait, you're telling me that your parents are to blame for how all of you treated me back then?" My voice was beginning to rise. "That they forced all of you to completely turn your backs on me?"

"Yes," he whispered.

I got up and walked a few steps away from him before turning around and glaring at him. It must have been some look because I saw him flinch a little.

"I can't believe that you're blaming your guys' parents for how you all acted!" I shouted. "How is that even possible?"

Edward let out a deep breath before getting up and walking over to me. "Bella," he said softly. "The reason we treated you like that, was because our parent's were threatening to take everything we had away from us. Our phones, cars, even our college funds and trust funds."

Before he continued, he led us back over to the sofa and took both of my hands in his. He looked into my eyes and said,"We knew it wasn't right to do what we did, but we were scared." He paused for a second before continuing, "Look, I'm not trying to offend you by saying this, but you have no idea what it's like to come from a wealthy family."

"Then explain it to me Edward," I said sarcastically. "What's it like to come from a wealthy family?" I spat.

He turned his head away and looked down at his lap. "Fine!" he huffed. "You want to know what it was like for us growing up? It was like this: We were spoiled okay? We didn't know what it was like to not be able to afford something, or what it was like to have to work for anything. Whatever we wanted was basically just handed to us." When he looked back up, he had tears in his eyes again.

He continued, "Back then, our lives were easy and we didn't want that to change. So, when our parents first told us to stay away from you after your mom died, we ignored them, so they forced us to make a choice: continue to associate with you or lose everything. I admit, it was selfish of us and we knew it would you hurt you, but we liked how easy everything was for us. We were also relying on our college funds and trust funds because without them, we would just wind up being stuck in Forks not going anywhere with our lives, and we didn't want that. We wanted to do more with our lives without having to work for it, so we hurt you."

I suddenly found myself wrapped in a pair of warm arms. "I'm so sorry, Bella. I'm sorry for everything we put you through," he cried. "I know we don't deserve it, but can you ever forgive us?"

He let go of me and looked at me with a shimmer of hope in his eyes.

"I'm going to be honest with you Edward, I'm not ready to forgive all of you just yet, but I think that with time, maybe I could. And I guess I can understand why you all did what you did-" He gave me a small smile, but it quickly faded when I added, "But, that doesn't explain why your parents wanted you guys to stay away from me in the first place."

He sighed. "You have to understand that wealthy people generally think about three things: their reputations, money, and their families. They didn't want to have their reputations damaged by being associated with someone whose mother committed suicide. And before you ask, I have no idea why they would think that in the first place."

"And all of your parents were in on it?" I asked

"As far as I know. Why?" he replied.

"Because your dad didn't treat me any differently from the way he did before my mom died when I saw him at the hospital back then."

He looked at me shocked. "You were in the hospital? Why?"

"I'm a klutz, Edward. Remember?"

He chuckled, "Yeah, I forgot about that." He glanced at his watch and said, "Well, I better get going. It's getting late."

"Yeah, I have to take Riley home and get him into bed or he'll be crabby all day tomorrow."

Edward got up and started walking towards the door, but stopped before he reached it. "Hey Bella?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm really glad I got to explain things to you. I feel a little better now that you know."

"I know what you mean. Thank you for taking the time to tell me."

"Anytime, Bella. I'll see you soon." And then he left.

"Bye."

I gathered my things together, got Riley from Carmen, and went home.

Before I went to sleep that night, I thought about how I couldn't wait until I saw Edward again.

A/N: So, Edward explained everything to Bella. In case you didn't understand, The gang's parents threatened to cut them off from everything if they didn't stop hanging out with Bella because they didn't want their reputations to get ruined by associating with someone who's mother killed herself.

I know it's not my best work, but I'm going to blame it on my allergy medication. LOL

See you next time! :)