Edward's POV

After their visit to our house, Bella's mood seemed to lift up just a little bit, her willingness to open up and to see more people surprising me. She was beginning to branch out, and I knew that she called and talked to both Mom and Alice regularly, sometimes calling just to ask a question about something new that she had encountered, and sometimes calling because she was overwhelmed and unsure.

I was thrilled to see her growing and learning to trust, and with that, I saw Nessie open up even more… she was adventurous and was dying to get out of Charlie's house to explore the town of Forks.

That was why on the day that Bella finally asked me to take her out for a drive, I saw Nessie melt down for the very first time, throwing a wicked temper tantrum. When Charlie tried to step in, Bella approached her daughter first, kneeling down on the floor, saying her name once, and waiting patiently for her to stop her kicking and screaming.

When she was calmer, Bella began to speak. "I know that you have been so good with staying here at Grandpa's house with me." She started and Nessie perked up, wiping her eyes. "I want to be able to give you everything that you want and that you need Sweetie… I want to take you to the park by myself, and register you for school in the new year… and I want to take you to the book store and the movies." She paused, sighing and taking a deep breath. I knew the thought of all of that was overwhelming for Bella… but I also knew that Nessie had been begging her to see and experience these things that she had read and heard about.

"We will do all of that. But this time… just the first time… I need to go alone. I need to make sure that I am okay so that I can do all of those things with you. And I promise, that even though you can't come with me this time… the very next time that I go somewhere, we will go together." She said and instantly Nessie was sitting up, a smile breaking through the tears.

"Crossies?" She asked, and Bella smiled back. "Cross my heart." She promised.

Ten minutes later we were in the car and Nessie was waving from the window, Charlie behind her and watching us warily. He was just as unsure about this… but this had been Bella's request.

"Everything looks the same… but different too…" Bella had been mostly quiet throughout our drive. She had asked to mostly just drive through the town, she wasn't ready to get out of the car and explore yet so I was simply zig-zagging through our tiny town as she looked out the window.

"Can we stop here for a minute?" She asked a few minutes later and I carefully pulled my father's car to the side of the road. As I watched her, I saw her breathing pick up, before she was in a full blown panic attack and I was reaching across, gently turning her cheek to me and helping her to re-focus. We had done this more than once at the house when she had been suddenly triggered by something or someone.

"He used to bring us bagels from here." She sniffled once she was back in control. Glancing at the sign I felt the grimace form on my face. I had been hoping that she wouldn't recognise this building. It had been almost completely gutted, the outside being refinished several years ago. The old dance studio looked nothing like it had, with 'Tilly's Café' now standing in its place, the bright blue sign advertising an assortment of baked goods and pastries. It was a popular spot in our town that had always had limited dining options.

"It's like he was taunting me… but I didn't know… I didn't know that my food came from the same place I took Ballet…" She trailed off, and I watched. She was quiet, as though lost inside of her memories.

"I want to look inside." I tried to stop her, but before I knew it she was out of the car. I knew instinctively that this was not a good place for her first exploration outside of the house and I followed her as she jogged across the street and pulled the door open, the bells above us jingling as she did so.

As we entered the space, the smell of fresh bread wafted towards us and Bella stopped in her tracks as the petite woman behind the counter first stared at us in shock, before quickly recovering and offering us a friendly smile and soft 'hello'.

"Bella? I nudged her when she hadn't moved, the couple sitting at the table next to the door was watching us curiously and I knew that this wasn't good. There was potential for this to be very bad for Bella.

"I'm fine." She whispered a few seconds later, and then she turned, quickly brushing past me and back out the door, the bells once again going crazy with her hasty exit.

"Bells?" I asked again as we walked back across the road together and got in the car.

"Why?" Her voice cracked. She didn't say anything else right away. She shook her head, as though to try and stop the memories… but then, she broke down.

"Why?" She repeated.

"I don't know Bells…" I felt my throat constrict at the very question and the rush of emotion that it brought up. As we had left today, I had been prepared to help Bella take this step… but I had nearly forgotten to prepare myself. Taking a deep breath I steeled myself again my own influx of emotions, just as Bella let loose… her anger taking over.

"I HATE THIS!" I hadn't heard Bella yell like that before, her voice rough, nearly wild as she screamed the words out, wrapping her arms around herself. I didn't say anything though, allowing her the safety to express her feelings… Mom had warned me that this might happen one day, reminding me that it was actually healthy to let it out.

"I HATE THEM FOR TAKING ME… THEY RUINED ME!" She screamed again and again I waited as she continued to yell… mostly about Vicky taking her… Bella had extremely complex feelings regarding the woman and she needed to sort them out. Finally, after several minutes of letting everything out, I watched as she physically seemed to deflate… the anger, and fear and sadness returning to her face.

"Bells?" I asked a little while later. She had started to curl into herself, forming a small ball on the seat beside me.

"Sometimes I wish I could go back…" She whispered, not looking at me, her eyes squeezed tightly closed.

"Go back to before you were taken?" I clarified, praying that that was what she meant.

"Back to the bunker…" She choked out and I shook my head, my heart shattering for her. "It was easier… I… I always knew what to expect… I knew my place…" The first tears began to escape her eyes and roll down her cheeks. She seemed so vulnerable… so broken; and I didn't know how to fix her.

"I know it's hard Bella…" I didn't know what else to say and I wished that Mom was here to help me… she would know what the right words were.

"I… I trust you Edward…" She responded a moment later, while I tried desperately to come up with the right thing to say. I hadn't expected it, and once again she left me shocked. "Only you…" She spoke so quietly that I barely heard her. I knew that she trusted me… more so than most of the others… but her words revealed that it was more than that. She truly didn't trust anyone else yet and I knew that I had to honour that.

"I… will you… will you help me?" She asked as I reached over, taking her hand in mine.

"I… I want to feel normal." She stated, squeezing my hand in return.