Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

Edward POV

"What are you doing?" Emmett asked as he sat in the car with me. His incredulous tone made me laugh as I turned to look at him.

"Give me a moment just to…" I began only to fall silent as I noticed movement approaching.

"Get down," I hissed at him while slouching in the driver's seat.

"You know, she will be able to see you, right?" he asked as he motioned toward the girl walking up the sidewalk. Her dark hair pulled back in a pony tail and her dress shoes replaced with chucks as she trudged up the stairs to her apartment.

"Why don't…" he began in a loud voice that was I was certain was going to draw her attention as I motioned for him to be silent for once in his life.

"Damn it, Edward," he sighed as I continued to watch Bella pull her keys out of her bag to unlock her door.

"She doesn't carry her keys in her hand," I groused as I watched her struggle to unlock the door before it finally opened it and stepped in. She paused only for a moment to look out across the parking lot before closing it once more.

"I'm more concerned that she doesn't notice that she has stalker," Emmett sighed as I turned to look at him with an irritated scowl.

"I knew I shouldn't have…"

"Here we go," he laughed and rubbed his hands together in an excited manner as if we were preparing to fighting like when we were kids.

"You knew you shouldn't have what?" he demanded as I rolled my eyes.

"Stalked your ex-wife?"

"You don't understand," I chuckled, but there was nothing funny about the accusation.

"Then tell me what I'm missing here, because all I see is you following around Bella like a damn creep," Emmett replied as I shook my head as I could not find the words to lie to him in order to deny it.

I looked at my brother as I struggled to find the right words that would make the conversation stop, but there wasn't any. What was worse was that he knew it too.

"Bella moved out from Jake Black's place," I began slowly and watched as he nodded, prodding me along with my explanation.

"About time," he muttered and then waited for me to continue.

"And…And I just like to make sure she gets home ok," I confessed and then looked away from him.

"Ok, that's a… a bit weird considering she's your ex and you're getting married in a few days, but commendable," he sighed as he shook his head while looking at me waiting for more, but I had nothing more to tell him.

"And?" he asked me, pushing again for more information.

"And nothing," I shrugged while maintain my poker face as he stared.

"You are such a bad liar," he laughed as he looked towards Bella's place once more, letting the silence settle over us once more.

"She looks happy," Emmett mused as if he was contemplating the fucked-up situation I placed him in since this was my everyday now.

"She's graduating this May so I'm surprised that she signed a lease for a year," he continued on as if this information was common knowledge.

"Graduating?" I questioned slowly as I waited for whatever other bits of information he might share.

"Yeah," he smiled as he motioned towards the girl inside.

"She'll have her business degree finally. I told her that I would help apply to a few government jobs since USA Jobs can be a bitch to navigate unless you're familiar with it," he rambled as I thought about Bella and what I knew about her life.

"Her major was education," I commented, quoting what I knew from when she was eighteen.

"It was, but she changed it," he shrugged as if it was nothing.

It was far from nothing.

How did I not know this?

"I told her that I knew a few people out of Cleveland that I could pass her resume to, but she still needed to apply so…"

"Cleveland?" I questioned as I felt panic wash over me with the idea of her being gone once more. I had lived without her once when she ran off to Florida, but she was back after a few months.

"Yeah, Cleveland," he laughed as I stared at him in disbelief.

"Do you think that's a good idea?" I asked him, mentally begging him to reconsider this plan to move her nine hours away from me.

"Hell yeah, Cleveland is a great area and she could live there comfortably working for procurement," he explained. "Plus, she needs a fresh start away from you and a job that has loan forgiveness. Overall, it's a win for everyone."

"She needs a fresh start away from me?" I laughed as I felt rage flash hot against my skin.

Her leaving.

She needed away from me.

Emmett helping her.

Cleveland.

The entire conversation had my head spinning.

"Yes," he nodded emphatically.

"You have no idea what she needs," I sputtered in denial as I turned to look at him. "And you don't know her. Not her at all or… Or what she's capable of."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Emmett demanded as I turned away to look back Bella's building only to find her walking towards the bus stop with a backpack on. I had no idea where she was going or why. I didn't know how long she'd be there or what her plans were from there.

I didn't know.

The words seemed to each within me as I stared at Bella while she waited for a bus.

Part of me wanted to run up to her and demand to know what her plans were. To find out all the hidden gems of information that had fallen in my blind spot as I had tried to distance myself from her while keeping watch from afar. The other part wanted to give her the space she had so graciously offered me.

"Listen, Edward, you're right. I don't know her. She doesn't really trust me and… I … I don't blame her for it after how everything has gone down, but she talks with Rose. And Rose loves her and I love Rose, so if Rosie says she ok and that she needs help that's all I need to hear," Emmett sighed as he clapped a hand upon my shoulder to pull my attention back to him. "Plus, once she was my sister and family is family, even in a fucked one like ours."

AN:

Thanks for sticking with me.

XOXO

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