A/N: Sorry for no update yesterday! Fanfiction wouldn't let me log in for reasons unknown.

Anway, enjoy this slightly longer chapter!

Chapter 23

Bella:

"Ok," Edward finally breathes out. "I'm ready to talk."

Sitting on the bed, curled up next to Edward, I wait for him to begin. I don't push him for fear that, if I did, he'd clam up and freak out. I want to know what he did that's supposedly so terrible that he thinks his family will never forgive.

"Back in America, my siblings and I all attended high school. To keep up appearances with the local people and to keep in contact with the humans," Edward begins. I nod along, Alice having already told me this. "We went to a small school, in Forks. We have a house there and…wait, was that where you went?" Edward asks.

"No. I went to the Seattle house. The mansion?" I tell him. "How come you have a house in Seattle and Forks?" I ask.

"Oh, that makes sense. By the end of the school year, we'd all graduated, so I'm guessing some of my siblings went to college. Rose and Alice have wanted to move to Seattle for years, they claim to be sick of living in small towns," Edward explains.

I nod again and take his hand in mine. He visibly relaxes after my touch.

"Anyway, we all lived in this house in Forks. We went to school, we had part time jobs…we were your typical American teenagers," Edward continues. "On the weekends, we went hunting for animal blood. I notice that's your diet, too?" Edward asks.

"Yeah. Always has been. I converted Maggie, though I can't say the same for Siobhan and Liam," I tell him.

"That used to be the same for me. I'm…I'm guessing Aro also told you about my temporary diet change," Edward murmurs, looking away from me.

"Hey. Look at me. We're vampires. It's in our nature. To avoid it for so long is admirable," I assure him.

Edward closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. "As you may be aware, Rose is beautiful, even by vampire standards. Which is something that many males notice," Edward says.

I can't help it, I growl at his words.

Edward actually smiles. "You, my love, are far more beautiful and have nothing to worry about. I love Rose as a sister. You are the only one for me," Edward says, pausing in his story to kiss me deeply.

"You can carry on now," I smile, satisfied.

"I don't want to tell you everything, as it's not my story to tell, but Rose's change was probably the most horrible one I've heard. She was attacked by a group of men. That's about all I can say."

Edward doesn't need to say any more – I can figure out the rest. I immediately feel guilty about growling.

"Like I said before, many men notice her beauty. In recent years, the thoughts I heard about Rose were disgusting. Most of them I'd learnt to ignore, but at Forks High, there was this one group of student, who…" Edward trails off, his eyes squeezing closed, as if he's remembering what happened. "They were planning on attacking her. I don't know if they were actually going to go through with it, but their thoughts. They were terrible and graphic and… One evening, after school, the leader of their group, Tyler Crowley, was about to leave school after football practise. Instead, I ambushed him. I tortured and attacked him. I wasn't planning on draining him – or even killing him – I just wanted to teach him a lesson. But I accidentally cut him and smelling his fresh blood… I lost control. I drained him before I knew what I was doing."

Edward stops and takes a few deep breaths. I grab hold of his hand, hoping to encourage and calm him in any way I can.

"I buried him in the forest. Forks has many forests and I knew it was unlikely for him to ever be found. I waited all night, not going home. I knew my siblings would be going to school the next day and that Carlisle and Esme would be at work. When the house was empty, I grabbed this rucksack and ran," Edward says. "I'm a coward and I ran. How can they ever forgive me, Bella?"

I brush away the tears streaming down Edward's face. I hug him tightly, whispering words of assurance.

"Edward, they will forgive you. They just want you back in their lives. They'll understand, Edward. It was just one slip up," I tell him.

"It wasn't just one though, Bella!" Edward shouts, shooting off the bed. "After Tyler, I lost count of how many others I killed. I can try to pretend like it's ok, but it's not," Edward says, laughing bitterly. "How am I any better than James?"

I get off the bed and walk over to him, standing in front of him. "It's so completely different. Do you think James felt the guilt you're feeling right now? Do you think he cared about whether or not the person deserved it?" I ask him. "Aro told us what he told you. About how your guilt was stopping you from being with your family. Maybe it's not just your family it's stopping you from being with." I try to hold back the tears as I watch realisation dawn on his face. "I'm going back to Maggie. Find me when you're ready to accept forgiveness."

Taking a deep breath, I walk over to the door of his hotel room. I go against everything within me, which is telling me to turn back around and run into his arms.

Just as my hand is about to turn the door handle, he shouts out.

"Wait!"

A/N: Thoughts on Edward's revelations?

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