Woohoo! SEVEN CHAPTERS! Things are finally picking up and I'm really hopeful for future events and finally writing some good 'old angst and tragedy and shit, so yay!

And now, chapter seven!

Chapter Seven

"I'm sorry it's such shit."

After parking his van on the side of the road and a ten minute trek through thick undergrowth and trees, Edward brought me to his "special place"- a small, old cabin on the edge of town, miles away from civilization.

I shrugged. "It's okay. I mean, it's no better than my place, so..."

After years of having to endure the fumes of old beer and vomit, I was pretty much used to the old, soddy smell of our home, but that didn't mean I was prepared to let anyone else in. Even Angela, my closest friend, never stepped farther than the front porch, even though she's pushed for a sleepover at my place for years.

"Really, Bella?" Edward raised an eyebrow. "Looked like you live in a fucking mansion," Edward laughed and flipped down on an old beanbag chair in the corner.

"Mm," I said. I made my way around, running my finger along the walls and various tables, pausing at a collection of polaroids. I picked one up, one with the smiling face of a random, older-looking woman. "This your mom?"

He just stared back at me and I snorted. "Mysterious as ever-"

"-yes," he said. He rose and made his way over to me. He plucked the photo from my fingers. "Yeah, it is" He turned the Polaroid over in his calloused hands, examining it. "Esme, her name is Esme."

"Where is she?" He furrowed his eyebrows.

"Chicago, I think. Or maybe Alaska." He shook his head, tossing the Polaroid back down. "Who knows. Her and my dad go wherever he's needed."

"Are they missionaries?"

"My dad's a doctor. My mom just stays at home." He walked back over to his beanbag chair and flopped back down. "Haven't seen them in years, though. Four, actually." He clasped his hands behind his head and closed his eyes thoughtfully. "Ran away when I was fifteen. I haven't seen them since."

"Why?" I looked down at her face, the smile wrinkles around her eyes. "I mean, what did they do to you...?" I closed my eyes, berating myself. "I'm sorry. That was a personal question."

Edward smiled warily. "I think the real question is what did your parents do to you."

I prodded the swollen flesh around my left eye and winced, then turned away and looked down to stare at discarded bottles of beer and random books collecting dust. "My dad... he's a drunk." I bit my lip. "He can't control himself, sometimes."

"He did that?" Edward asked.

I nodded. "It doesn't even hurt, though. It doesn't hurt..." I tenderly placed my fingers on my face, then I turned to face Edward quickly. "Sometime, I wish he was dead." I pressed my lips together, then backpeddaled. "But then I remember that we- my mom and I- we need him. Even if I don't want to admit it. We'd be on the streets without him..."

"I bet you still love him, though," Edward said.

I felt a peculiar burn behind my eyelids before replying. "Yes." I swallowed. "He's my dad. I couldn't completely hate him if I tried."

Then, breaking through the silence, Edward chuckled lightly, then snorted. "I've forgotten what that's like," he replied,"caring about people."

"You don't love anyone?" I asked incredulously.

"What's the point? Why do you even bother?" He stared up at the ceiling. "Humans- people, we just take and take. We never give back. All we do is kill ourselves and everything around us." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette. "We're all inherently selfish beings."

I smiled. "That's not true," I argued, thinking of Angela. Kind, sweet Angela.

"Yes it is," Edward retorted. He lit his cigarette and took a long drag. "Just look at the environment, how we kill eachother. Everybody wants something. Nobody's ever just nice for the sake of it. Everyone has means."

"Does that apply to you, too?"

He didn't answer.

"Why'd you bring me here?" I asked. He looked back at me.

"Looked like you needed a helping hand." He stood once again and walked over to me.

"So what are you getting out of this?"

He reached out and lightly touched my forearm. He grasped it firmly. "Who knows? Maybe I'm thinking about long-term benefits rather than... short-term ones."

It didn't phase me. Edward's views on human psych, but it was whatever, because all that mattered was that I had somewhere warm and dry to sleep tonight, not whether Edward would reciprocate my flimsy affections.

"I'm tired," I said and Edward nodded. He kicked over a beanbag chair and then handed me a raggedy blanket with uneven stitching patterns.

"Knock yourself out." He threw his cigarette to the floor and crushed it underneath his boot. He sat down in his beanbag chair on the opposite end of the room and stretched out, yawning. "Goodnight, Bella."

I watched him relax after a few moment of him shifting, then I myself snuggled down into the chair, and shut my eyes.

In between dreamland and reality, I could vaguely register the shuffling of feet, fingers pulling at my jeans, close to my hipbones. When I opened my eyes, I saw through my hazy vision Edward's face, close to mine. He was smiling crookedly.

In the background, I registered another voice, lighter, more feminine.

"Sleep, Bella," Edward cooed to me. "Go back to sleep..."

And I did, soundly.

Xxx

My eyes snapped open.

Quickly, I turned to look around the room, expecting to see Edward curled up asleep, as streams of sunlight were barely breaking through the shutters. But he wasn't there.

The light feeling of my pants, how, when I brushed my hair from my face, I didn't feel the familiar feeling of my earrings in my lobes. My jacket that I remember being strewn across a chair in the front, thrown onto a beanbag, the pockets turned inside out.

Son of a bitch.

I had been robbed.

Edward had robbed me.

And not just of my belongings

Stay turned for more updates, probably more of them, considering the fact that I've just started Spring break and I'll have a lot more free time on my hands.

I'm also really happy and excited, because the story is finally picking up how I wanted it to, so keep reviewing, because you guys motivate me to crank out more of these chapters.