The Fic Lab Prompt 11: I was lonely until I met you

Bella sits on the bench under the tree overlooking the quad on campus. The sun shining down from the cloudless blue sky provides all the warmth she needs on this early fall day as she waits for Edward Cullen to meet with her.

Bella doesn't think she's being watched, but she wouldn't put it past her father. He promised her that she would be free to attend classes like any other college student, that she wouldn't be followed while on campus, but she's not sure she trusts her father in that.

Ever since she discovered the illegal side of his business dealings, something he still doesn't realize she knows, Bella sees her father in a different light. She used to think he was just overprotective, wanting to keep her safe from accidents that can and do happen in life. She thought he was overcompensating for the loss of his wife, the loss of her mother, in a car accident when Bella was ten.

Bella now realizes, though, that her mother's accident was anything but. Her father has enemies and they don't care who they have to hurt to get to Charlie Swan. Bella has a vague memory of hearing her father talking about "making them pay" after her mother died, but she was too young and distraught by her mother's death to really understand what he meant at the time.

Bella's childhood had been perfect before her mother died. While her father was busy with work, her mother, Renee, always had time for her and was her best friend. They would have long discussions, go to movies, hang out in the park. Her mother shielded her from knowing about the dangers that lurked around the corners due to her father's illegal activities.

After her mother died, though, her father took Bella out of school and hired tutors to teach her at home. Not only did Bella lose her mother that day, but she lost all of her other friends, too. She wasn't allowed to go anywhere without her bodyguards. She didn't realize they were bodyguards until years later. She just thought of them as her father's helpers, since her mother was no longer around. But either way, her friends stopped coming over and stopped inviting her on play dates. The more years she spent being home schooled, the more those relationships frayed, until they were completely severed.

It wasn't until a few years ago when she begged her father to let her go to college that Bella felt any freedom. Her father won't let her live on campus. He insists she come home at the end of the day, that she still sleep every night In her childhood bedroom, but he's given her the freedom to attend classes on campus by herself. Her driver still drops her off in the morning and picks her up in the afternoon, but her time on campus allows her to feel like she can finally breathe, to feel normal by interacting with people, to escape from the feeling of being a prisoner in her own home…if even only for a little while each day.

It was also here on campus that she first met up with FBI Agent Edward Cullen. Bella remembers how handsome he looked when he came up to her in the hallway after class, dressed in his navy blue suit, white button down shirt and dark grey tie. She had contacted the FBI to discuss the possibility of working with them to take down her father. She didn't know what she expected in an agent, but she pleasantly surprised by Edward Cullen.

When Bella first discovered her father's illegal business dealings a few years ago, she was conflicted about what to do. She loves her father, but a part of her still blames him for her mother's death. And she's tired of always being afraid, waiting for the time her father's enemies may decide to use her as a pawn against him. Bella knows putting her father in jail is the only way to free herself from the exile she's been subjected to and to claim her life back as her own.

And so she meets with Edward on campus one or two days each week, at this bench, under this tree, overlooking the quad and she gives him the new information she's learned. To any casual observer, they look like two regular college students - Edward dresses not in his suit, but in jeans or basketball shorts, a sweatshirt, and baseball cap backwards on his head - eating lunch together, talking about school and comparing notes. Only she and Edward know their discussions are not about school.

Bella turns her head looking around for Edward. She spots him, walking towards her, his smile warm and inviting as he waves at her. He puts on a good show for anyone watching them. They look like a couple exploring a new relationship, but this is just business. Bella wishes it could be more, and some days, she's sure Edward feels the same, too. But she knows that Edward would never cross that line…at least not until her father is in jail. She holds out hope for more between them when this is finally over.

Bella had been lonely before she met Edward Cullen, but for one or two days each week, she no longer feels alone.

AN: This prompt was really difficult for me…like pulling teeth.