I had two done, so here you go :)

Chapter 17

EPOV

Seeing Bella crumble in on herself like that had been rough. I felt helpless as her tears started rolling and her breath started hitching. It was heartbreaking to see her like this. I couldn't imagine how hard everything must be for her. It had only been two weeks since her father's passing and already she had so much to deal with; the press hounding her, the impudence of the coaches, the board that was probably leaning on her, press conferences that had to be given and she had to run all of Charlie's businesses. She'd hardly had any time to grieve it all it seemed to me.

I tried to help her as best I could. I knew focussing on something else might help her, so I told her to focus on my heartbeats hoping that might steady her. Her small hand felt cold and limp when I'd pressed it against my chest. She seemed so fragile. I had clutched it tightly against my chest.

When she'd finally calmed down I quickly tried to distract her mind from her pain with something she loved. Something she enjoyed. So we talked about the dogs for a while. It was nice.

I didn't press her to talk about her feelings. I wanted to give her space. And I had the feeling she didn't like being this vulnerable in public. The way she kept glancing around nervously at people made me think that she preferred not to cry when others could see her.

After a few more moments of looking at the dogs playing, I suggested we head back.

Bella bit her lip as she looked at Jake. Did she not want to go?

'We could go back to my place and let the dogs play some more?' I suggested. When she still hesitated I decided to make it sound less like I was inviting her over just the two of us. 'Emmett and Rosalie were planning on coming to dinner tonight, you could join us. I know they'd like to see you again.'

I held my breath in anticipation. I didn't want her to go to her own apartment where she would be alone, not after that panic attack.

'Or we could go to yours?' I suggested. Perhaps she wanted to freshen up a bit.

'No, I'd like to go to yours, and see Emmett and Rosalie again.' she finally said, her voice soft and unsure.

A smile crept unto my face without any effort. She'd said yes. Of course she'd said yes to Emmett and Rosalie too. But that was fine. I liked hanging out with everyone. It was easy and laid back and it made Bella happy. And that made me happy.

'Great. Let's go.' I stood up and whitsled for Mike, who came bounding over with Jake hot on his heels.

Bella clipped Jake on and we headed back to the cars.

'I'll follow you.' she suggested as she loaded Jake in the car.

I nodded in agreement. 'Do you have my number in your phone?' I asked. I knew I'd given it to her, but who knows what she'd done with that.

She bit her lip and nodded shyly. I smiled. 'Good. If you lose me, or aren't sure just call me.'

She nodded again and I quickly headed to my own car before I broke out into a little happy dance right there and then. She'd saved my number. That made me happier than I cared to admit. Once I was in the car and Mike was safely in the back I pulled out and made sure to wait until I saw Bella's car behind me before continuing on.

She followed after me the entire route and I made sure to keep her in my rearview mirror as we entered down town again. It was easy to lose someone with all the traffic lights. But we made it to the underground garage of my building together. I pressed the code into the gate and then stopped right after it to quickly get out and give the code to Bella as well. She quickly typed it into her phone and I got back to my car to give her space to get in. She got in and then we drove to my parking spots. I had one for myself and my other car, an astin martin. And then I had one guest space. I directed Bella to the guestspace before parking in my own spot.

I let Mike out and waited next to the vanquish for Bella. She got out and let Jake out as well, before eyeing my car appreciatively.

'A vanquish?' she asked. 'I thought they didn't make those anymore.'

'They don't.' I smiled, trailing my hand over the bumper. 'It was my dad's. I got it off him when he got himself a different Aston.'

'wow.' She said smiling at me. 'I prefer to drive electric, but it really is a beautiful car.'

'it's amazing.' I assured her. 'I'll take you for a drive one day and you'll want to buy your own.'

she laughed and shook her head. 'I'm more of a admire from afar type of girl. I don't really enjoy all the horsepower.'

I laughed. I hadn't really pinned her as the type, but then again I hadn't expected her to know this was a vanquish either.

'let's go up.' I said gesturing towards the elevator. Jake trotted along close by Bella's side, keeping his eyes on his surroundings carefully. 'he's really protective, isn't he?' I remarked as we stepped into the waiting elevator.

she nodded. 'yeah, it's gotten a bit worse these past few weeks. he's probably on edge because I'm not really feeling well.'

I nodded. 'yeah. They're good like that. Whenever I'm down Mike just crawls into my lap as if he knows I need a hug.'

she smiled and nodded. 'they're special like that.' She put her hand on Jake's back affectionately. He leant against her in return.

as the elevator stopped on my floor, I realized I hadn't actually cleaned my apartment since last week.

I turned to Bella. 'So, don't judge me… but it might be a mess inside…'

'Might be?' Bella asked amused.

'Alright it definitely is.' I admitted.

She shrugged. 'It's okay. I won't judge.'

'you say that now.' I muttered under my breath. Normally I was quite tidy, but I had been slacking slightly this past week.

I opened the door and took a deep breath before letting her go in first.

'Well, if this is your messy, then I don't want you seeing my place any time soon.' She said as she stepped inside.

I frowned. Then I stepped past her. She was right, the entire place was spotless. The dirty clothes that had definitely been strewn all over the room were gone. The dishes had been cleared. The empty beerbottles were nowhere to be seen and there was not a spec of dust anywhere. Even Mike's toys were congregated in his doggy bed.
I frowned. Then I spotted a note on the counter.

you owe me – Rose

Holy fuck. Rose had cleaned my apartment. But how? How did she know?

Bella was looking around. 'Seriously though. You call this messy?' she asked. 'there isn't even any dust.'

'Uh yeah… no… I mean. I thought it was messy but it isn't.' I mumbled as I pocketed the note. I would have to thank Rose later and ask her how she knew.

Bella frowned at my response.

'I mean… I forgot it got cleaned this morning. It was a mess before though. Usually I'm quite neat, but I hadn't really cleaned up this past week yet. I thought I hadn't done it yet, but now I remember the maid came by this morning.'

Bella laughed at my weirdness and I grinned uncomfortably.

'Would you like something to drink?' I asked her. she nodded. 'what would you like?'

'What do you have?'

'Uh, water, some soda's, tea, coffee.'

'Some tea would be nice.' She said. 'can I use your bathroom first?'

'of course.' I nodded. Pointing out the bathroom door. 'go ahead.'

'thank you.' she muttered, slipping inside.

I quickly put the kettle on and grabbed my selection of teas for Bella to chose from. Then I grabbed my phone and dialled Rose quickly, figuring Bella would proabbly be a while as she freshened up.

she picked up on the first ring.'you're welcome.'

'I owe you so much.' I whispered into the phone.

'No shit.'

'how did you know?'

'Emmett saw you two walking out of the park together, I guessed.'

'Thank you. Will you and Emmett come over for dinner?' I asked quickly. I may have fibbed a bit saying that we'd already agreed on dinner.

it was silent for a beat. 'are you sure?'

'yeah. I think she could use some company.'

'and yours isn't enough?'

'Rose.' I warned.

I knew she wanted us to get together, but I'd also told her that Bella wasn't ready for anything. And she had agreed with me there. She needed time and until then we needed to be friends, and I needed to make sure she stayed comfortable around me. If that meant haging out with all four of us then I was willing to do that.

'Alright. I would like to see her again anyway. We'll be over at seven.'

'Thanks.' I quickly said bye and hung up.

Just as I put the phone in my pocket again Bella came back into the room, looking like she'd splashed some face in her water. Her eyes were still slightly red and her nose too, but she seemed to feel a bit better at least.

'So what tea would you like?' I asked, gesturing to my collection.

She quirked a brow at me. ' I hadn't pegged you as a tea drinker to be honest.'

She caught me. 'I'm not. But my mom is. I keep it for her. Sometimes I'll have some if I'm having trouble sleeping. But I'm more a coffee kind of guy.' I held up my coffee cup that I'd already filled. She smiled and shook her head.

'What's your mom's favourite?' she asked a bit of whistfulness in her voice and I wondered if I'd inadvertently reminded her of her family again.

'that one I think.' I said pointing to the green tea. I wasn't exactly sure though.

she smiled. 'green tea with matcha. Your mom is a woman after my own heart.' She said and my heart fluttered at the thought of her and my mom meeting.

then I shook myself. Too soon, too much.

I was her friend. And I would be a good friend to her. she needed one.

She needed a family to be honest. One that would love her and cherish her and take her into the fold. And then I wondered if it wasn't such a bad idea after all to introduce her to my family. I knew Carlisle and Esme had hearts the size of oceans. They loved fiercely and I knew they would take Bella in like that. Not because I liked her, but because they wanted to do it.

She grabbed one of the little bags and I poured the water for her and we headed to the lving area. Bella glanced around my apartment as she settled in the couch. Her eyes came to a stop on my baby grand.

'do you play?' she asked.

I nodded. 'I do. I did a minor in music composition.'

'What did you major in?' she asked with curiosity.

'I was pre med.'

Her eyes widened. 'wow.'

'yeah, family trade and all that.'

'your dad wanted you to study medicine?' she asked.

I nodded. 'He's the team's new orthopedic surgeon consultant. I always wanted to be just like himm, but then I got on the high school baseball team and before I knew it I was going to college on a sport scholar ship and I got drafted for the MBL.'

'wow'

'ýeah, it was pretty surreal.'

'was it what you wanted?'

'It was, once I was on that high school team I couldn't deny the rush it was to knock a ball way out in the outfield and steal three bases. How the crowd cheers when you catch a ball that seems uncatchable. The thrill of running a base when you're not sure if you're going to make it. I wouldn't change it for the world.' I said, smiling broadly and letting myself get lost in the sensation I was describing for a moment.

Baseball was my life, that was my truth at this moment in time. I loved what I did. And I was good at it. 'I know I won't be able to do it for the rest of my life, but for now I want to do this. I might go back to medicine later on, or music. I don't know. Perhaps I'll start coaching like Emmett.' I mused. The world was full of opportunities and I wasn't worried about that at all. plus I knew I had quite a few years left of my career in the MBL.

'How did you and Emmett become friends?'

'we were friends in high school, we were both on the baseball team. Emmett was a year ahead of me, but they mixed classes in the sports teams if you were good enough. We kept in touch through the years and when I got drafted we both kept tabs on each other. And as luck would have it I got traded to the cubs a year after he started here as assistant coach.'

'that's great. I've known Angela since childhood as well. She's the only close friend I have.' She admitted with her eyes cast down.

I reached over and gently squeezed her hand. 'You have us now too. Me and Emmett and Rosalie.' I assured her.

She gave me a small smile then and was about to say something when the door banged open and Emmett let himself into the appartment.

Bella jumped back from me and I stood up quickly, not that anything had been going on. Still it felt like we'd been caught or something. It was odd. Emmett noticed and froze, but then he was jumped by both Mike and Jake. Thankfully, stopping him from making any stupid comments. Rose came in too shaking her head.

'Sorry, guys. I tried to get him to knock.' She said stepping around the mess of slobering dogs and Emmett on the floor.

'no problem.' I quickly said, walking over and grabbing the bags from her hands.

'I brought take out, I hope you like Chinese Bella.' She said.

'Yeah, I love Chinese.' Bella said with a small smile.

'good, because it's a staple around here. You'll have to get used to it. Steaks every Friday and Chinese at least once a week.' Rose sat her self down on the couch beside Bella, hooking her arm over her shoulders and pulled her in for a tight hug.

'I couldn't impose like that-' Bella started to protest.

'No, I won't take no for an answer. Steak night is on Friday nights and Tuesdays are usually reserved for Chinese, but that one floats around. Put it in your agenda. Every week from now on.'

And just like that Rose had made sure that Bella would not be left to herself anymore. She would be with us, and we would take care of her.

I left Rose to it as Bella's arms wrapped around Rose and headed with Emmett to the kitchen to set up the food. My heart felt lighter, knowing that Bella would have us from now on, to help her, support her and be there for her in whatever way she needed.