Merry Christmas guys! :)

I do not own Twilight. These characters belong to Stephanie Meyers.

Bella Pov

"...and you should know that I have already spoken with your mother, and she is in agreement with this. It's time you move on, and accept the fact that Tanya is what's best for Edward. He was going to propose to her I'm sure of it; but then you came back and confused him. If you had only stayed away for a few more months Edward would have forgotten about you completely. Bella, I know its hard dear, and I want you to know that I understand why you're ignoring my calls and I understand that you're upset, but well, you would be a fool to turn down this kind of money..."

"Okay." Edward bellows, turning his head away with a creased brow in both confusion, and disbelief. "Enough." His chest rises with a heavy exhale of breath I wasn't aware that he was holding in. Then he turns to look at Alice who is standing there wide eyed, and doesn't even flinch when the taxi driver abruptly peels off. "Tell me right now, Alice-" Edward's voice is that of a tortured soul, barely able to get the words out. "Did you know anything about this?"

Alice's face burns a bright red as shock fades and is replaced by resentment and anger.

"Of course not!"

"Alice has nothing to do with this Edward. Your mother, my mother, and Tanya's mother orchestrated this."

"No." He takes a step back, his eyes narrow on me. "It was my dad, and Charlie. We talked about this. I talked to Carlisle myself...I told you exactly what he said. He never once mentioned my mom."

"Edward." I breathe, taking slow cautious steps towards him holding my phone out to him. "This was lastnight. She wants me to leave."

Edward stands there for a long moment, seemingly looking at me but really looking through me.

"Why?" Edward asks after a long stretch of silence. "She's been nothing but supportive of my pursuit...supportive of us. Mom knows how much I love you. I don't hide it from anyone, especially not her. She wouldn't deliberately try to break us up. Bella, you're talking major plotting...years of it."

"Edward, I'm telling you the truth. She has a vision, and no one will stand in her way. Those three evil women have planned out your entire life." I tell him, feeling myself getting choked up. "And I'm not in it." I finish on a whisper that dies away in the wind.

"There's an explanation for this Bella. Alice..." He look to her for reassurance, but it never comes. "Mom wouldn't..." He trails off in thought.

"Either mom is a great actor or Bella's lying." Alice says as she approaches on Edwards side. She stops right in front of me and looks into my eyes. "She's telling the truth."

Edward doesn't speak, he just stares at me for long seconds before he exhales, places his hands on his hips and huffs out, "I know she is."

I breathe a sigh of relief, closing my eyes as a weight lifts off of my chest.

He believes me!

"She offered you money?" Edward asks me, looking at me meaningfully. I nod with pursed lips because there's nothing to say but yes. She offered to give me start up money for my own restaurant if I left town. That was the price for giving up the love of my life. "You accepted it." It wasn't a question.

"Of course not! How could you ask me that?"

"You were going to leave! What am I supposed to believe?"

"Believe in me!" I raise my voice at him. "Like you used to. You used to believe the best about me...but now..."

"You took money and ran once, I just-"

"Renee took that money Edward, not me. Not. Me."I stress the words, wondering why he never brought this up before. Why is this now a problem? He's known for awhile that my mom was given money to get me out of town.

He sighs, and turns his head away from me shaking it in shame as he stares down at the ground with a look of utter disgust on his face.

"I know, baby. I'm sorry. This is just...this is alot to take." He abruptly turns away from me, placing one hand on his hip, the other hand runs down his face as his head slightly tilts to the sky. He doesn't speak for a long seconds, probably soaking in all that he'd heard. I didn't want to hurt him like this. That's the other reason I was going to leave without a word. I have brought Edward enough pain for one lifetime.

Bella..." He breathes, slowly turning back to face me. "I felt like I died that day. The day I found out that you left." I look on with tear filled eyes as Edward shoves a hand through his hair, and roughly pulls. "My mom was there for me..." His voice is troubled, trembling mixed with his tears. "When no one else seemed to understand why I was so attached to you...why I couldn't just get over you, or the fact that you left me. She was there, Bella. She was there, and she was understanding. Everyone else told me that I needed to let you go, and that my acting out was childish. But it made me feel closer to you."

"Oh Edward..." I wrap my arms around him, and rest my head on his chest. His strong arms wrap around my body holding me close as we both give and take much needed comfort.

"Recklessness always brought us together." He says with negative connotation and I hate it. I hate that our time together will always be bitter memories, all because I left. Would they still have been bitter if I had stayed? If I had to watch him fall in love with Tanya?

No. Not for him, but definitely for me.

If I could do it all over again, I would have stayed, and endured the pain so that he never would have had to deal with it. I would take away every bit of his pain...I would suffer in his place as it should be. My memories would be tainted, not his.

Bella Pov

Alice was beside herself with anger when we left her at the apartment, whereas Edward has been brooding more than anything. He was trying his hardest to wrap his head around the fact that his mom played a huge part in keeping us apart. Actually all of our parents are culpable, and none of us have taken the news well.

"Edward." I reach over the console and grab his hand in mine trying to gain his attention. He jumps a bit, and glances over at me. "I'm sorry." My words hang between us for a moment longer than I can handle. Tears well up in my eyes as guilt begins to eat away at me.

This is it! I knew eventually something would happen, and it would be the overall defining moment of our relationship. It's even worse because I didn't know that I loved him then, but now, this time I'm sure. I am unconditionally and irrevocable in love with him.

Just when I am pulling my hand away-feeling ashamed of myself and all of a sudden very vulnerable- Edward squeezes my hand in his. I look up at him to see that his eyes are already on me. He brings my hand to his lips and presses a tender kiss there.

He squeezes my hand once more before placing our entwined hands on my thigh. I turn towards him in my seat with pitiful eyes, and a sob threatening to burst from my throat. "You know that I love you right? You have to know that." I am desperate for him to understand that my feelings for him run deeper than I have led on. I've become emotionless, jaded even; convincing myself that I could never love, when really I've been in love with my best friend all along "I'm so sorry that you're hurting."

Edward's eyebrows lower, and he narrows his eyes into slits, and they roam my face in question. "Don't apologize. You have nothing to apologize for."

"But I do. I should have never come. Your life was great before you met me. Both times. I'm a screw up, and your mom is smart enough to want to protect you from the likes of me."

Edward is silent for a long time before releasing a heavy sigh. "You didn't call her mom, or Esme." Edward mumbles sadly. Now it's my turn to sigh, because it was unconsciously done.

"I-" I stutter, taking a deep breath to collect my words as I stare down at my hands. "I love Esme, I do- but Edward, I was devastated when I found out what she'd done. I knew Renee's part and to this day I hate her for it, but I expect that from her. I can even understand Ellen's part in it, and I can see how she would benefit. But Esme? What does she get? Other than the satisfaction that we would never be together. Would it really be the end of the world if we were together? Who are we hurting with our love?"

I'm in tears now, crushed by my own words. It was somehow okay when the words only tormented me in my head where I could pretend none of this ever happened. Pretend that Esme never approached me and I never had to tell Edward the truth about her.

"Why can't we be together?" A whimper escapes my trembling lips as my head falls into my hands in an attempt to sheild my pain from him. His troubled eyes linger in the back of my mind, plague my inner most thoughts even in the dark corners of my mind continuously wreaking havoc to my already defeated heart. A sob escapes my trembling lips, opening the flood gates to a multitude of repressed tears, and emotions. Years of lies... betrayal...loss...

I feel the car come to a hault, but I can't see through my tears so I don't know where we are. But I feel Edwards hands on me, unfastening my seat belt, pulling me into his lap, holding me, soothing me...loving me. Always loving me. I don't deserve his kindness, his good heart, his pure soul. I don't deserve him.

"Do you love me?"He asks through grit teeth, trying to get a handle on his own emotions. I nod, feeling my tears come harder, flowing faster at the admission as my heart races in my chest. "Then they don't matter. None of this matters."

"But it does!" How can't he see that? His moms approval does matter to him. I know this to be a fact, and so does she.

I feel Edwards hands on my face wiping away my tears. "It doesn't." He momentarily soothes me with just two words, dazed by the brilliant smile on his face. His eyes are crystal clear as if now having a moment of clarity. I wish I had the kind of faith that Edward has. I wish I was as optimistic as he is. Maybe then I wouldn't feel so helpless and out of control. Maybe then I would stop fighting us, and learn to accept the fact that Edward loves me. He really loves me. He's in love with me...not Tanya. Maybe then I could stop worrying and looking over my shoulder just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Maybe then I could live in the moment like I used to, and just be with Edward.

But then I wouldn't be me. Well, atleast not the version of me that is more cautious and unwilling to take risks, more closed off and unwilling to show my vulnerabilities because I'm so damn afraid to trust anyone.

If I could just let go of the past, and move on...then maybe just maybe I can love Edward the way that he deserves to be loved.

Bella Pov

When we walked into the Cullen home Esme was sitting in the dining room drinking a cup of tea looking down at a sheet of paper amidst an array of papers sprawled across the table.

Edward gets right to business when we walk in, and I squeeze his hand, reassuring him that he has my full support.

"Mom." He calls, and her head turns in our direction, as she slowly removes her glasses from her face. She stares wide eyed for a second, then she glances at me, then to Edward before masking her look of shock. She expected me to be out of town by now...especially since I told my mother to pick me up from the airport.

"We need to talk." He says authoritatively, but still very respectful, which is more than she deserves right now in my opinion. I have lost all respect for her...but I still love her. She's always been like a mom to me. She's always been better than my mom now that i think about it; which is why this hurts so bad.

I look up at Edward to see the line of tension above his pursed lips, and I know right then and there that Edward is still struggling with this. My heart drops into my stomach instantly causing me to feel nauseous. He opens his mouth to speak, but I tug on his arm, stopping him. He looks down at me, brows deeply furrowed in unmasked confusion.

I shake my head 'no' once, and if at all possible I watch as his brows deepen further. He turns his back on his mother and stares down at me as his arms enclosed around me. He ducks his head low to my ear and whispers, "This needs to happen, B."

He pulls back and stares into my eyes with a meaningful look that tells me to back off. He wants to protect me, even if it is from his own mother.

I nod twice and look away, as he places a soft kiss on my cheek before pulling away. We both turn to see Esme smiling at us, and I almost roll my eyes. Where is her award? She is a brilliant actress. She actually looks happy for us.

I can instantly tell by the firm set of Edwards jaw that he is not impressed by his mothers show of pleasure in seeing us together. He knows the truth now, and he wants to make our relationship plain for her to understand.

"I always knew you two would end up together in the end." She nods with a beaming motherly smile on her face.

"Really?" Edward says, that singular word dripped with sarcasm that could not be misconstrued. "Because from what I hear you have been making a mess of things for us for years."

"Edward, dear, have a seat. We need tea for this discussion." She makes a move toward the kitchen, but Edward stops her.

"We don't need tea, Esme. I need you to apologize to my girlfriend, then I want you to explain to us why you did it."

"Son, there are things you are not equipped to handle. Things your dad and I had to sacrifice to get where we are today, and -"

"What does that have to do with anything? Mom, you disrespected Bella, multiple times from my understanding. You broke us up years ago, and attempted to do it again."

"It was for your own good!" She raises her voice, qnd starts walking towards us. "I sacrificed so much for you, your brother and sister, I have, and I never complained. However, when I ask something of you, I expect it to be done immediately and when it is not, I take drastic measures. It's been this way your entire life."

I understand what she's saying because its true. She does expect things she asks to be done immediately, or she takes it upon herself to punish you. In the end, she still gets what she wants...but the punishment still stands.

"You were punishing us?" I ask incredulously, steping around Edward's protective arm, right into the line of fire.

"Yes." Edward answers me in a daze. I look up at him waiting for an explanation. "Because I wouldn't date Tanya exclusively in highschool. Charlie was trying to protect you by getting you to move on from our weird friendship and find someone else since my mother was thrusting a female in my face like a piece of meat every chance she got. Charlie knew the end game, didn't he?" Edward asks Esme and she nods.

"You have been arranged for this since birth Edward. We let you have your fun. Now it's time you take your rightful place as Tanya's husband. Think of the benefits son."

Edward shoots his mother an incredulous look. "Are you out of your mind? I don't love Tanya. I don't even like her."

"But you will learn to. It begins with respect, loyalty, and progresses-"

"I don't respect Tanya at all." He spits out venomously.

Esme gasps. "She's the mother of your unborn child."

"And that's all she will ever be." Edward replies quickly with no hesitation, "Bella will soon be my wife."

Esme scoffs and looks away from us momentarily as if not believing his words. I'm a little in shock by his words.

"You can't be serious Edward? Tanya will be a great partner. She will support your every endeavor, and she loves you. Everyone knows that Bella is incapable of such things including a love that isn't stuck in the past, and built on a friendship that was completely unhealthy for everyone involved."

"That's enough!" Edward roars angrily, and Esme's eyes widen.

"Don't use that tone with me Edward. I am still your mother."

"I won't let you stand there and talk about Bella like that mom. I don't care who you are. She is the love of my life, and you need to accept that. Other wise you will see alot less of me."

Esme takes a few deep breaths before taking slow careful steps towards us. "What you fail to understand son, I've lived in this world without you for many years, but you however have never lived without me. You don't even know a world where I don't exist. Remember that next time you make a idle threats of that magnitude. "

"I'm aware." He replies sharply. of course he's aware that he's never had to live in a world without his mother. "What you fail to understand mother, is that I've lived a life without Bella. I know what it's like to live in a world where she doesn't exist. So know that there was nothing idle about my threat. You don't accept us, fine, but I wont subject Bella to this kind of treatment, I won't tolerate it."

"Edward!" She calls. "I treat Bella with the upmost respect. I didn't mean to hurt her."

"Well you did." He pulls me along with him, turning his back on her as he growls lowly, so lowly I almost miss it. "And I wont allow you that opportunity ever again."

Thank you for reading! :)

Fanfiction Rec that I am currently reading.

Deviant-planetblue

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