19

Bella sat in Alice's arms as the words Marcus had just said ran through her head again and again. Her grandfather had started an organization that hunted down queer girls like her and tried to force them into being straight by raping them. That was their purpose: to cure the world of gays, lesbians, and everyone in between.

"I don't understand," she said, swallowing against the bile creeping up her throat.

"We're sorry, we don't mean to hurt you anymore, but you need to know what your grandfather is doing."

"No, you don't understand," she said again. "I don't have a grandfather. Both Charlie and Renee's parents died before I was even born, didn't they? That's what I was told."

Peter sighed, gripping the back of his neck. "No, Bella, they didn't."

"Renee's parents live in Maine. They disowned her when they found out that about her role in The Midnight Sun Society. They don't support her beliefs."

"Charlie's mother died when he was in high school. In a car accident, but your grandfather, a particular cruel man named Alistair, is still alive and well. He lives in Portland. He was a strict father to his two sons. He believed one should not spare the rod, and that rule of thumb applied to his wife, as well. He verbally and physically abusive to his family, and molded your father into believing force was the only method to cure women of their . . . queer ways, so to speak."

"You said he had two sons," she said.

"Yes, you have an uncle. His name is James. He left when he was only sixteen years old, Bella. We're still tracking him down, but we believe James, like you, is gay, and was . . . forced out."

Bella pressed her lips together and inhaled a sharp breath through her nose. "Why are you telling me this? Why? So I know that there isn't a good and decent person around me? Like knowing that my mom and dad are so desperate to turn me straight that they'd set me up to be raped wasn't enough, let's thrown in a crazy abusive grandfather," she yelled, yanking herself out of Alice's arms as she stood up.

"We're sorry," Marcus muttered, standing up. "But you needed to know, Bella. This isn't just about you, it's about the hundreds of other boys and girls they've brutalized."

"I'm sorry," she cried, stumbling backward. "But I can't . . . I can't deal this right now. I just . . . I'm just fucking done with all of this."

And before anyone could stop her, she turned and hurried upstairs into hers and Alice's room, closing the door harder than she intended. She walked over to the window, pulling the curtains apart and looked at the room in the house across from her. The room that used to be hers, used to be the only safe place she had since moving to Forks, but that ended when her father put his hands around her throat, intending to finish what Jacob Black had started.

The door to the room opened, and when she looked back, she expected to find Alice standing there, but she wasn't. Instead, Carlisle was leaning against the entrance to the bedroom.

"Can I come in?" he asked.

She nodded, and let the curtains close as she stepped away from the window. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have spoken to them like that."

"Don't apologize, sweetheart," he said, walking over and sitting on the side of the bed, patting the mattress next to him. "Sit and let me tell a little story."

"Okay," she whispered and sat next to him.

"I never thought of myself as a queer kid, Bella," he said, giving her a wink. "Esme and I started dating in our freshman year in high school. Cliché story of high school sweethearts. We went to college together, and I figured we'd be married with a kid by now."

He smiled before continuing. "Rose was Esme's roommate in the dorms, and they became quick friends. Spent a lot of time together, sometimes more time than I got with Esme. There was something the way Esme spoke about her, I knew she cared about her, but I wasn't expecting Esme to tell me she was attracted to Rose. I mean, not gonna lie and say the image of them together didn't turn me on," he admitted, grinning wider. "I am a man after all, and two women sleeping together is hot."

Bella laughed. "Can't say I disagree."

"Rose started dating Emmett right after the start of our spring semester. He seemed like a nice guy. I thought he was cute, but like I said, I didn't think I was bi-sexual. He became my best friend, though, and one night the four of us went out dancing. We, um, drank a lot," he said, giving her a look. "And I do mean a lot. We ended up back at my dorm room, since I had a single, and I don't know, Bella, one thing led to another, I guess, and, well, I'm not going to go into detail, but we ended up sleeping together. Like all of us, in every way."

"I get the picture," she grimaced.

Carlisle smiled. "I loved every minute of it, Bella. The way they made me feel, I loved it, but I was so confused because Esme was everything to me, and suddenly, Rose and Emmett were there, and I found myself longing to be with them, too. I didn't understand how I could love her, yet want to touch them too."

"So what changed?" she asked.

"Garrett saw what I didn't understand," he admitted. "He was going to Law School at NYU, and had popped onto campus right before spring break, and again, we all went out dancing and drinking." He looked down at her. "Nothing happened, but the next morning before Garrett left, he asked me about our relationship. I, of course, denied that anything weird was going on between us, but in case you haven't nothing, he's a bit of an asshole."

"I noticed," she murmured.

"He told me to stop lying to myself, that it was clear that I loved them — all of them, and that if they made me happy, I should embrace them." Carlisle smiled again. "That night I confessed my love for all of them. Turns out they loved me, too. They were just as scared and confused as I was. It hasn't always been easy, and we've lost people who were supposed to love us, too," he added, nudging her with his shoulder. "But we've gained so much."

"Is that why you took Jasper and Edward in? Me and Alice?"

"Partly," he admitted. "I'm assuming Alice told you how she came to us?"

Bella nodded.

"Finding her standing on that bridge, the hopelessness that surrounded her, Bella, I knew we had to help her. She needed someone to tell her how much she was loved and needed and accepted, like Garrett had for me. Jasper and Edward will have to tell you their stories sometime, but, sweetheart, you're loved here, and not just by Alice."

"I just don't understand why I'm not enough just the way I am," she whimpered, causing him to immediately wrap his arm around her, tugging her against his chest. "My mom? My dad? Why can't they just love me for me?"

"I don't know, sweetheart," he whispered, pressing his lips against the top of her head. "I just don't know."

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