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

Thanks to my Beta MadMooey18 for making this readable.

Author's Note at the end.

As Edward combs his hair his phone rings and he sees that the caller is Bella, so he picks it up. "Please don't tell me that you are canceling on me last minute."

He hears chuckling on the other end before she tells him, "Take a deep breath, Edward." He follows her instructions and then exhales loudly.

"Better?" she asks. He nods his head and then feels stupid when she laughs and tells him, "I can't see you."

"Better."

"I am not calling you to cancel. Just to tell you to pick me up from Alice's place," Bella tells him through the phone. His family's company is hosting a gala and his whole family is attending.

His nerves are shot through the roof and he has been counting on Bella to help him calm his nerves. Bella has grown on him and now occupies her own space in his life. Things aren't progressing as fast as he has hoped they would, but he isn't surprised. He understands that Bella has been through unspeakable atrocities and is going to need time and patience to trust him, and if there is anything Edward has loads of; it's patience.

"I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long," Bella tells him after she gets in the car and greets him.

Edward shakes his head and then tells her, "It's fine. I always arrive early, so you being late isn't that bad."

Bella starts apologizing profusely, but then notices the smirk on his lips and slaps his arm as she tells him, "You are such a fucking asshole."

"Nah, you're just too easy to rile up," he tells her then pulls her toward him to kiss her forehead before letting her go. That's a recent development: casual affection between them. They have gotten so used to each other that what would have made him giddy or made her jump a mile is their new norm. Another recent development is the discovery that despite her hard shell on the outside, Bella is a real softy on the inside.

"You know, I am forever impressed by your commitment to wearing wristwatches," Edward comments as he spots yet a different watch for the ninth time. It's almost as if she has an entire budget preserved for watches.

Bella goes pale as she scrambles for something to say. "Yeah. It's a real commitment," she mutters nervously.

Edward notices the tone of her voice and worriedly asks her, "What is it? Did I ask something wrong?"

Bella shakes her head feeling then pauses to take a deep breath and feel calmer then tells him, "You didn't say anything wrong. I am the problem. This is something I don't like talking about."

"I'm sorry for being nosy," Edward mutters looking at her in the dimly lit car.

She rubs his right shoulder and tells him, "Don't sweat it."

Time passes and before they know it, they reach the ball and step into the room. "Why is everyone looking our way?" Bella whispers to him as she notices many eyes on them as they make their way toward their table for dinner.

"Maybe it's because you're the most beautiful woman in the room," Edward tells her smirking.

Bella rolls her eyes and continues smiling as she asks him, "Are you mocking me, Mr. Cullen?"

"I would never," he replies, stopping.

Seeing the intense look he gives her makes her uncomfortable, so she decides to joke, "If I knew that all it took was looking pretty, I would have gotten into business."

Edward throws his head back and laughs loudly then leads her to their table. "With your killer brains, I bet you would be a formidable force if you went into business." He feels the need to stress to her that he thinks she is smart. At some point, since they have met, Edward realized that Bella struggles with insecurity. It's not her looks that she struggles with, it's everything beyond her looks that she struggles with. She feels defined by her beauty, so Edward always makes a point to compliment her on other things in addition to her beauty.

The night goes by in a flash. They have dinner together followed by a couple of speeches made by Edward and other individuals in the company. After that, they have their customary dance together. The first time they danced together, they were slow and awkward as each of them tried to process their feelings. Since then, they have danced many times together. Not only do they have lots of fun together, they put everyone's dancing to shame with the many graceful swift twists and turns they make.

Bella smiles to herself as she journals in the dark of her bedroom. Everyone in the house is sleeping. She is the only one up.

I am having fun. I feel very happy. I don't think I have felt this happy ever and that scares me. No one should be able to feel this good when sadness is only moments away. All it takes is a hiccup for the house of cards I have built to crumble to the ground. I have built this great life for myself here with great people but is this house a skyscraper or is it a house of cards? I hope that it's not a house of cards, but I don't feel like I have worked hard enough for it to be a skyscraper.

The boys love it here and I feel like finally, my life has meaning but what if-

Bella drops her pen as she hears the doorbell ring. She gets up and walks quickly to the door before whoever it is wakes the boys up.

She looks through the magic eye and finds a man with his head hung low looking disheveled with a wrinkled button-up and sagging shoulders. At a closer look, she notices the unmistakable hair of Edward.

Edward raises his head the moment Bella opens the door and throws his arms around her. It takes her by surprise that she feels the wall behind her to steady herself.

After two long minutes interrupted only by his breathing, he whispers, "Can I come in?"

"Sure, sure," Bella tells him warmly as she opens the door for him and leads him to the couch in the living room.

"Would you like some water?" Bella asks him then realizes how stupid her question is and tells him, "I'll get you some."

She hands the glass of water to him then sits opposite of him and says, "You can tell me what's wrong, anytime you are ready."

Now that she has a chance to examine his face in a lit area, she realizes that Edward has been crying.

Edward raises the glass to his lips while staring into her eyes then swallows and lowers the glass but keeps holding on to it. "I just came from the hospital."

Bella's eyes go wide with shock and she moves closer and places her hand on his knee as she asks him, "Is your family okay?"

Edward nods his head and Bella sighs in relief thinking that the worse is behind her. "My friend tried to commit suicide," he mumbles looking at her.

"Fuck," she mutters under her breath and pulls her hand away from his thigh to run it through her hair.

"Yeah, fuck indeed," he mutters then laughs humourlessly.

"Who is it?" she finally asks after a minute of silence.

"Jim Brown," he tells her sniffing.

"I don't think I know him," Bella tells him.

"And that is the problem," he tells her as a sob tears through him.

She rubs his back quietly as he cries into his hands until suddenly he looks up at her and says, "It's my fault."

Bella frowns and then shakes her head replying, "Don't say that. You can't control how your friend acts."

Edward shakes his head in disagreement then sniffs before telling her, "But I could have been a good friend."

Bella is taken aback by his answer. Edward is one of the most considerate people I'm her life. Sometimes, he is even a better friend than Alice. The idea that he is a terrible friend is not only an alien thought to him, it's impossible.

"Hey, look at me," Bella mutters, then takes his chin in her hand forcing him to look at her and states, "You are a good friend. Don't let anyone guilt trip you or make you believe otherwise."

Edward looks into her eyes for a couple of seconds then turns away and tells her, "You don't know him. If I was a good friend you would know him."

Bella tries to digest the words he just told her. By his logic, she is a terrible friend to Tyler because Edward doesn't know about him. She is a terrible friend to Seth because he doesn't know Edward. It can't be. Her awareness isn't the metric by which he should measure how good of a friend he is.

Right as Bella opens her mouth to disagree with him, he starts muttering to himself, "Yes, it's my fault. I should have seen it coming, I should have stopped it. I should have done something."

"Edward, it wasn't your fault. You couldn't do anything to stop it," Bella tells him calmly.

"What about answering his phone calls, huh?" Edward demands suddenly turning toward her.

At Bella's silence, he continues, "I stopped hanging out with him months ago because of me and my stupid boundaries. I kept telling myself he needs to go to a shrink and I will continue to give him the silent treatment until he does. He is too much for me. Once he is no longer depressed, I will start hanging out with him. He has called me so many times over the last couple of months, but every time I found a way out of hanging out with him and now I might never hang out with him ever again."

Edward's last statement ends with him sobbing into his hands. Bella silently wraps her arms around him and pulls him into her as his sobs get more violent. She rubs his back gently whispering that everything will be okay. Once his cries turn into hiccups, he pulls away and apologizes to her. She tells him to not bother and diverts his attention by asking him to tell her about his friend. Despite the couple of memories that drag Edward into a crying spiral, an hour later he finds himself feeling better.

Feeling that it's now safe for her to leave him, Bella excuses herself to go make tea for both of them. When she returns, she finds Edward dozing on the couch. She discards the tea cups in the sink and comes back to the living room to place a pillow under his neck. She throws a light shrug across his abdomen figuring that the weather is warm enough as it is.

After kissing him on the forehead, she goes to turn off the light in the living room. She lingers by the light switch taking in the sight of him for a couple of moments. Looking at him fills her with a feeling she can't quite put her finger on but knows is a good one. Yes, Edward is one of the most good-looking men she has ever met. The best-looking man, if she is being honest with herself, but it's not just that. It's the whole package. It's his sense of humor, tenacity, commitment, and personality. It's everything.

Giving Edward a last look, she flicks off the light and goes to sleep in her bedroom.

Bella feels a tapping on her face right before she opens her eyes.

She is greeted by the sight of Adam's face two inches away. "Sweetie, what are you doing here?" she asks, her voice rough from sleep.

"A strange man is sleeping on our couch," Adam whispers. A shot of fear runs through her. Suddenly she is wide awake. She jumps up and runs to the door only to find Edward snoring quietly.

She slaps her hand against her forehead and leads Adam to her bed as she tells him, "Sweetie, that's a friend of mine. Not a stranger."

"Why is he sleeping here? Why not at his mummy's?" he asks her quietly as he crawls into the bed with her with the typical innocence of a child who thinks everyone lives with their mummy.

"He needed to talk to a friend," she whispers. He opens his mouth to ask another question but Bella is too tired for all of his questions and knows that he will be grumpy and slow in the morning if he doesn't go back to sleep, so she places her finger on his lips to shush him and hugs him to her side and closes her eyes.

When her alarm rings, she wakes up for the second time that day and shuts off the alarm quickly to keep the boys asleep. She goes into the bathroom and washes her face then puts her hair in a ponytail and goes to the treadmill in the room next to hers.

The first thing Edward feels is the stiffness in his neck. Next, he feels something touching his face roughly. He initially assumes that someone is slapping him, but quickly realizes that someone is stroking his face. He opens his eyes and comes face to face with grey eyes.

He opens his mouth ready to let out expletives out of fear but then hears the voice of Bella. "Sweetie, is he up yet?"

Seconds later, Bella comes into view and he realizes that he has been sleeping for a while since she is already up and in jeans and a blouse. "Sweetie, I told you to check if he is up, not wake him up."

"Sorry," the young boy who he knows as Adam mutters, shrugging, although the look he gives Edward says otherwise.

"It's okay, Bella. I need to be up. What time is it?" he asks her as he gets up. He realizes then that he has a blanket covering him. He reminds himself to thank Bella later as he tries to move his neck and curses under his breath low enough that Adam doesn't hear him.

"It's a little after 8," Bella tells him.

"God, I have most definitely overstayed my welcome," he tells her, swinging his feet to the floor and groaning softly.

Bella rolls her eyes and then tells him, "Don't be ridiculous. I am going with Seth to drop Adam at his school then I will return alone. There is food in the oven and an outfit on Seth's bed you can change into. He isn't as tall as you are but they will do. I need you to be ready by the time I return, got it?"

Edward frowns then asks her, "Ready for what?"

Her lips form an O then she tells him, "I forgot to tell you. You received a message that I may or may not have read. Your friend is out of surgery, so once I am back, we'll go to the hospital together."

Edward sighs in relief then stands up and quickly hugs her. She returns the hug just as fiercely. Sighing in relief, Edward opens his eyes to find that her kids are staring at him. While Peter has an indifferent look on his face, Adam is glaring at him.

"I think your son hates me," Edward whispers in her ear, then pulls away.

Bella lets go of Edward then turns to Adam and asks, "Have you put your shoes on, young man?"

"No."

Bella places her hands on her hips and asks, "What are you waiting for?"

"Nothing," Adam mutters then goes to put them on.

"I think I should go on my own to the hospital. No need to tax you more than I already have."

Bella turns to Edward and tells him, "Don't be ridiculous. I am going with you. What kind of a friend would I be if I let you go on your own?"

"The kind of a friend that has a protective angry child," he whispers, not wanting Adam to hear.

Bella frowns and turns to face Adam and asks, "Are you done?"

"Yes." At Adam's answer, Bella turns to Edward and tells him, "He will have to get used to me having friends. Be ready when I come back," then she turns around and leaves, not giving him a chance to protest.

True to her words, Bella returns thirty minutes later alone and they spend the ride down the elevator in silence. While Edward bounces his knees, too anxious and petrified to do anything else, Bella spends the time sneaking glances at him.

Bella has finally accepted her feelings for him and has decided that she will be with him if he still wants her. That said, she has spent too much time observing him trying to figure out if he still likes her or not. She isn't sure what she will do if either is the case, but she knows that she will do something either way.

So far, Bella hasn't received a signal letting her know. Does it frustrate her? Sure, but Bella is good at frustration. She hates being frustrated so much that she will fix things however she can as soon as possible.

His shoulders are stiff, his fists are balled and a frozen frown is marring his beautiful face. Something in her tells her that she needed to do something about it. If he shows up like that, he will do more harm than good for his friend. That's the official reason why Bella needs to do something. The nonofficial, but still important reason, is that Bella can't bear to see the man she cares for be miserable.

Bella isn't built to handle such a sight and Edward isn't meant to go in looking like he is in this much pain.

Once they reach the ground floor, Bella presses the button to her floor before the elevator door can open and when he asks he frowns at her she tells him, "I want to show you something in my place."

Once they enter her apartment, she takes his hand in hers and silently drags him up to their roof deck ignoring the feel of his hand around hers.

She goes to sit on one of the outdoor couches and watches as he walks around the edges and looks into the distance before he turns to face her and tells her stuffing his hands in his pockets, "I appreciate you doing this Bella, but this isn't the first time I have seen New York."

"This isn't what I wanted to show you," she tells him.

"Then what?" he asks impatiently.

Are you sure you wanna do this?

Yes.

This is crazy. It's stupid. You are exposing yourself to him. Laying yourself bare. Are you sure you wanna do that? What if he thinks less of you?

If it changes his opinion of me, then I will know that and move on.

Taking a deep breath, Bella pats the space beside her and tells him, "Come sit beside me."

Edward drags his feet until he is standing in front of her then flares his nose for a minute before sitting beside her. He is angry at himself and angry at his friend. He feels his emotions all over the place and the last thing he needs is for Bella pulling whatever bullshit she is doing right now. He doesn't want to blow up in her face but doesn't understand why they are sitting here together instead of being on their way to the hospital. Usually, he can tolerate Bella's mysteriousness. It's not his favorite trait but he tolerates it because it comes with many things he loves about her. Right now, he has no energy to handle it.

Once he sits down, Bella holds his eyes with her's and he blinks in confusion. He could swear that the fear in her eyes is palatable enough for him to hold, but what would Bella be afraid of?

He watches as Bella drops his eyes and then looks at her right hand. She raises it till her hand is on eye level, then slowly takes off the wristwatch she is wearing. Edward is puzzled by her action, but Bella doesn't do anything except continue to stare at her wrist, so Edward decides to look at it and see what is so important.

At first glance, he sees nothing out of the ordinary, but then he notices a scar he has never seen before. He has memorized everything he has seen in Bella. He knows about the mole behind her left ear. He knows of the scar on the outside of her right thigh two inches above her knee. He doesn't know of this scar. He takes her wrist in his hand to bring it closer to him for inspection and she lets him.

It's not an ordinary scar. The angry jagged line protrudes. This is one that was no accident. Whoever did this meant to cause harm and make blood flow as much as possible.

Suddenly, he understands why this is all relevant, and why Bella is showing him this.

Someone wanted Bella dead.

Bella wanted herself dead.

Bella tried to kill herself.

Hello lovely people,

Sorry for the late update. Our internet has been out recently and I have been busy preparing for my graduation ceremony which was on the 20th. Between those two things, I decided to take a short break from updating, but I am back and I promise I will update the next chapter soon as it is already written, so the moment my beta is done with it, you will have it. Meanwhile, I will start the chapter after the next one so by the time my beta is done, I will have the new chapter ready for her.

What do you think of this involvement? Do you think Bella will tell him what happened? How will Edward react?

Leave me your thoughts in the review section, and if you don't follow and favorite my story, please do. I am hoping to get to 100 followers/favorites over the next two months. Plus, it helps the story reach more readers.

Until my next update,

Stay Safe