I don't own Twilight. What I own is my character's behavior, personality, background, and the plot of the story.

Author's note at the end of the chapter.


"Are you sure we will be safe here?" Bella asks her father looking around the area apprehensively. The last time she was here, she was five, not that she remembers visiting. That said, she has seen the pictures that make it seems like she had a lot of fun.

She looks to her left and finds Edward holding a squinting Cece in his arms. The poor thing was tired this morning and the car ride must have lulled her to sleep. She hasn't been able to sleep much since she found out that James kidnapped Maria and fled with her.

It was a total accident. She overheard Bella and Edward talking about Maria when she should have been sleeping but was instead up in the middle of the night to drink. It turned out to be a good thing as Maria has told Cece a couple of things that were helpful for the police, including mentioning a place her dad once told her about. The description Maria gave was pretty vague, but a house in the desert cancels out a good portion of the country.

Both James and Maria are wanted and can't legally travel which means they will either be illegally smuggled out, or stay in. If they stay in, it will be a matter of time before they are caught. Now, if only they could find the house Maria talked about faster, they will get her.

She looks at Edward and he quickly averts his eyes. Since discovering the disastrous outcome of his talk with Tanya, he has barely interacted with anyone besides Cece. He has been quite ashamed of his action. Initially Bella tried to persuade him that he couldn't have anticipated what happened, but as the consequences of his action became more concrete, Bella decided to let him stew in his guilt

Hopefully, this will make him think of his actions next time. Bella isn't pissed off at him. Recently in therapy, she decided to not hold a grudge against people who fall for Denali's traps, or indirectly aid him. He is the sole perpetrator in all of this, and it's unfair for her to expect others to see his shit coming a mile away, but that doesn't mean that she isn't angry at his stupidity.

Charlie nods his head and tells her, "As safe as you can be." He gives her an encouraging smile then leads them into the cabin. The first thing that happens is that the dust assaults their senses. It gets into their eyes, and nose making it had for them to see clearly and not sneeze.

"Daddy! What are you doing? I wanna see like you, mummy and grandpa," She hears Cece mutter in anger. She looks to her left and thanks God for Edward's quick thinking when she finds him shielding Cece's eyes and nose with the scarf around his neck.

"I promise baby you aren't missing anything," Bella tells her in a soothing voice and then turns to Edward and tells him "Give her to Dad. He can take her outside to play while we clean the cabin."

He does as she tells him and then they get to work. The first twenty minutes are spent in silence as they work together to clean the cabin. She opens the windows and they get to dusting. They dust the furniture and then move it around to dust under it. At the amount of dust they find, Edward worried that they will never finish cleaning.

As they are carrying the big couch to return it to it's place, Edward's phone rings. He looks at the caller ID then hangs up and returns to help her. His phone rings a second time, but he ignores it. By the third time, he huffs loudly then places it on airplane mood and resumes working only to find Bella looking at him.

"What?" Edward demands letting his irritation show.

"I suggest you answer that or Miss I Love to Party will dump you," she tells him using the nickname she dubbed for Maya since Edward went back to his careless phase.

"It's not Maya," He tells her returning to his work.

Bella laughs lightly then tells him, "Well I for one would be jealous if someone was calling my boyfriend this much."

Bella would never ask him who is calling. Her pride would never let her do that, but that doesn't mean she won't subtly wonder.

Edward rolls his eyes and tells her, "It's mum. Nothing to be jealous of."

"Ohh," Bella sighs loudly and goes back to working.

Edward stuck to his promise. Aside from Rosalie and Emmett, no one in his family has meet Cece since Edward has been back in her life.

"For your sake, I hope you don't decide to go back on your promise," Bella tells him in a warning tone.

Edward rolls his eyes and replies, "I wouldn't do that, and even if I did, it would be because they have taken steps to prove that they have changed and it would be something the both of us decide on."

Bella nods her head and hides her smile not wanting to show that she is impressed by his model answer. "It goes without saying that the same applies in case you decide to introduce Cece to Maya," she tells him giving him a side glance then turns to stare at the cobwebs in the upper corner of the ceiling she has to clean. She feels a shiver go down her spine. If there is one thing that scares Bella, it's spiders.

Edward opens his mouth to answer her but realizes that this is his chance to tell her that he and Maya aren't dating.

Bella notices his hesitation, and asks him, "Is there something for me to worry about? Something I need to know?"

"There is nothing for you to worry about," Bella lets out a sigh in relief, "But there is something you need to know."

Bella holds her breath as she waits for Edward to continue, "Maya and I aren't dating."

"Ohh," Bella lets out. She automatically reaches out to pat his shoulder and tells him, "I am so sorry. A breakup is never easy."

For a moment, Edward entertains the idea of leaving things as they are and not coming clean. She doesn't need to know the truth. He can settle for half truth. The half truth would bring him more peace than the full truth, but he quickly shakes his head and decides otherwise. She might not need to know what happened, but he wants her to know. He needs to tell her. He needs to come clean. He doesn't know what telling her would be achieve, but he knows it's a necessary evil.

"We didn't break up. We never dated, to begin with," Edward States.

Bella does a double-take at his answer. "Pardon!"

"We never dated," Edward repeats shying away from her gaze and staring at his feet.

"Why?" Bella asks in shock confused at what she is hearing. This makes no sense. Why would he do that? Why would he lie to her that way? What did he gain from a lie like that?

He shakes his head and continues, "I figured that you would feel more comfortable with me dating instead of being single, so I lied to you."

Bella barks a laugh and then asks him, "You are joking, right?"

Edward shakes his head and tells her, "I am not."

Bella looks away and tries to make sense of what she heard. "This is funny, real funny!" she exclaims as she laughs a humorless laugh.

"You wanted to make me comfortable you say?" she asks sarcastically as she turns to face him.

Edward nods his head in reply. "That's very rich coming from you, Mr. Self-centered."

She hears the erratic thudding of her heart in her chest as she takes a deep breath and tries to regulate it. "How about next time you wanna make me uncomfortable, instead of lying to me, how about not blowing up our cover?"

Edward grows worried as he quietly watches her breathing get louder and heavier.

Realizing that she is moments away from having a panic attack, she drops the broom in her hand and walks to the door, but before she leaves, she tells him, "Since you wanna make me comfortable how about you do the cleaning?"

Then she slams the door rattling the walls and raining dust on him.


Hello lovely people,

I am sincerely sorry for the late update. I have been doing a lot of traveling lately and a lot of things have come up in this trip which has screwed things for a little bit and made it impossible for me to stick to my schedule. I am trying my best, but the circumstances are out of my hand and I don't want to push too much pressure on myself and mess up my mental health.

I will try to have the next chapter up in five days, until then, don't forget to vote for me in the Golden Onion Awards.

Stay Safe