Chapter 5

Upon finding an appropriate establishment for their mission that was open at this hour of the morning, they parked and walked in.

They sat at a booth and ordered the most indulgent milkshakes on the menu. Bella's eyes went wide at the monstrosity set before her, piled high with whip cream, swirls of fudge drizzle and a cherry on top. Renee laughed at Bella's expression and popped the cherry from her own milkshake in her mouth.

"So, Bella," Renee started. "Do you want to…" she trailed off.

Bella shook her head vehemently. "No, I don't want to talk about what happened. Not right now."

Renee nodded. "So, any cute boys in your life I should know about?" She asked, taking a sip of her milkshake innocently.

Bella choked on her mouthful of milkshake and flushed a telling shade of red.

"Ahh," Renee said knowingly with a laugh. "So, tell me, what's his name?"

Bella coughed for several long seconds on the milkshake that went down the wrong pipe, which did not help with her complexion.

Bella drank some water to recover, overly aware of the scrutinizing gaze of her mother's eyes on her. But she saw a playfulness in her mom's eyes.

She didn't see a way around this one. "Edward," she said, unable to keep the adoration out of her voice.

Renee squealed excitedly, seeing her daughter literally sway upon saying this boys name. "Edward," she encouraged. Bella didn't say anything else. "Oh, come on! You've got to give me something! How old is he? What's he like? Are you going out?"

"Um, he's 17," Bella said. It was technically the truth. "He's protective. He's actually totally torn up about what happened, he feels like he should have been there to save me or something." Bella watched her mom smile kindly at this information. "Um, I don't know if 'going out' is the right term for us. I mean, it's kind of all really new. We've been talking for a few weeks. Things didn't get serious until after…"

"After?" Renee asked, confused and a bit concerned.

Bella steeled herself. "When I didn't show up at school yesterday, he came over to check on me. We talked for a while and, I don't know, I think we might be together now."

Renee eyed her daughter seriously for a moment and Bella regretted saying anything at all. "He came over yesterday? After your assault? And you're together now? I don't know Bella, that seems awful fast."

"I mean, yeah, kind of, but we'd been building up to something for weeks," Bella rushed to assure her mom. "The assault was kind of just poor timing."

Renee eyed her for a moment. "This Edward. He knows about what happened?" Bella nodded. "And he's not pressuring you to do anything before you're ready, I hope?"

Bella shook her head. "No, Mom, he's not like that, he's really… Old fashioned. He's amazing, really, I've never felt safer with anyone. And I wasn't sure I'd feel safe with anyone after what happened, but I feel safe with Edward. I know it seems fast, but it also feels so right."

Renee studied her daughter before a slight smile creeped in. "You love him, don't you?" Bella flushed in answer. "Oh, my god, you totally love this boy." Renee grinned at Bella and Bella smiled sheepishly back.

"Moooooooommmm," Bella groaned, embarrassed.

Renee laughed. "What?" she said playfully. Then she sobered her expression. "I'm happy for you, Bella." Bella smiled appreciatively.

"So, when do I get to meet this Edward?"

Bella's eyes widened in horror. "Mom, no, it's way too soon for the meet-the-parents moment!"

Renee gave Bella a look. "Bella, I don't know when the next time I'm going to see you. I feel like I should meet this boy while I'm here, make sure he's good enough for you." Renee eyed Bella suspiciously. "Does your father know about him?" Bella looked down guiltily. Renee gave her a look. "Bella, you're going to have to tell him. You can't just sneak around behind Charlie's back. I know how your father can be, but I don't feel comfortable with you dating a boy without your father knowing about it, especially while I'm not there."

Bella groaned. "Do we have to? I'm pretty sure I've already given Dad enough of a heart attack with my assault. I think that a boyfriend just might send him over the edge."

Renee did not release Bella from her intense look. She quipped her eyebrow. "You're not getting out of this one, Bella. I promise, I'll be there to smooth things over."

Bella sighed and said, "Fine," not feeling like she had any choice in the matter.

Renee chuckled and resumed her onslaught on her milkshake. Bella did the same.

"So, what do you want to do next?" Renee asked after paying the check.

"I want to go home and take a shower," Bella said, shifting in her seat, feeling like she was crawling with filth.

Renee nodded understandingly. "Sure, thing." They gathered their things and drove back to Forks.

By the time they got home, Charlie had already left for the station. Bella grabbed the plastic bag that the hospital had supplied to use for her first shower with her cast. Renee looked over the instructions on the pamphlet and helped Bella put the cast cover over her cast and secure it.

"Do you need any help?"

"Um, I don't think so?" Bella said, uncertain, never having showered with one hand before. She certainly didn't want any help for this part, but if she did, she'd want it to be her mom to do it.

"Why don't I just stand outside the door and if you need any assistance, you just holler?"

Bella nodded in agreement.

Bella grabbed her shower cady and a bathrobe and headed into the bathroom. She took a deep breath and started to undress.

Bella turned the water as hot as she could stand it before stepping in. The water made a loud sound as it hit the bag covering her cast, so she awkwardly held that arm out of the water. She grabbed the bar of soap and started to lather it with her good hand on the parts of her body she could reach. Tears brimmed and fell down her face, lost in the stream of the water. The usual lather felt insufficient to deal with the sense of filth on her skin. Bella used her fingernails to try get a deeper clean, to scrape off the filth penetrating her pores. Quickly her skin reddened in irritation. Bella sobbed into her hand, trying to muffle the sound, not wanting her mother to hear her.

Bella grabbed the shampoo bottle and, uncertain how to proceed with just one hand, ended up squeezing a portion straight onto the top of her head. She started to lather vigorously before gasping at the tenderness at the back of her head. She went a little more slowly, carefully massaging the shampoo into her scalp. She turned and rinsed off before repeating her efforts. At the end of the whole ordeal, her left arm was exhausted, but she felt about as clean as she was going to get. Satisfied that she was able to accomplish this mission on her own, Bella turned off the water and clumsily dried off with the towel before removing the cast cover and putting on her bathrobe. Bella dried her tears and opened the door to see her mother's kind smile.

"Seems like you managed," Renee said.

Bella nodded. "Yeah, thanks for the offer, though. Umm… I'm going to be in my room for a bit, if that's okay?"

Renee smiled kindly. "Sure, I'll be downstairs if you need me."

Bella closed herself in her bedroom with a sigh. She loved her mother, but it had been quite a morning and she needed a moment. Bella quickly changed into her pajamas and threw herself onto her bed and let herself cry into her pillow. After she had done that for about five minutes, she found herself craving a different kind of comfort. Edward. She pulled out the cell phone he had lent her and pressed number 1.

The phone had barely had a chance to finish its first ring before she heard Edwards voice float through the small device. "Bella?" a touch of concern tinging his voice.

"Edward," her voice was thick with tears.

"I'm on my way," he said and a woosh of air was all she heard before the call ended.

A minute or so later, Edward flighted through her window and was before her, his eyebrows creased with concern at her tear-streaked face. Bella didn't say anything, just started crying again, allowing him to pull her into his arms.

He held her for nearly 20 minutes, gently rocking her and stroking her damp hair, humming a lullaby into her hair. Bella felt herself calm in Edward's strong arms. Finally, she started to pull away, wiping her face. Edward brushed the hair out of her face gently, gazing lovingly into her eyes. Bella got instantly lost in his beautiful topaz eyes. They stared into each other's eyes for a long few minutes and Bella forgot how to breathe.

"Breathe, Bella," Edward instructed her with a smile teasing at his lips, having noticed her concerning stillness.

Bella took a deep breathe and blinked, breaking the spell. She closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to clear it. "That's not fair. You used your vampire mesmerizing-whatever on me." She glanced back at him.

Edward chucked, looking quite please with himself. She gave him a playful shove at his chest, Edward was kind enough to play along and fall back a few inches.

"You started it. You've had me mesmerized for quite a while."

Bella looked down, a blush rising to her cheeks. Edwards eyes strayed to Bella's irritated skin and his brows furrowed in concern suddenly. "Bella, why do you have scratches all over your chest and neck?"

Bella put a self-conscious hand on the exposed skin in question. "Um, I was trying to get clean in the shower…" she trailed off.

"And that required you scratching your entire body raw?" he asked incredulously.

"I felt… dirty," she said in a small voice.

Edward pursed his lips and didn't say anything, but gave a heavy sigh.

Bella looked up at Edward, insecure. "Are you mad?"

Edward shook his head, closing his eyes. "No, I'm not mad. I just hate this."

Bella looked down. "I'm sorry. This is too much. I'm too much. I'm a complete mess. You should just leave me and go find some nice, normal vampire or not damaged human if that's your thing or-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Edward said quickly, lifting Bella's head with a gentle finger and her chin, forcing her to look at him. "Stop that. I love you. I told you I loved you after I found out you were raped. I knew what I was signing up for. I'm here for you, for the good, the bad, and the ugly. I still can hate what happened to you and that you're suffering."

Bella couldn't muster up any words, so she just nodded, feeling Edwards eyes burrowing into hers, forcing her to take in the truth of his words. "Please, Bella, don't push me away," he continued to plead. Bella swallowed and nodded again.

"Tell me about your day," Edward prompted her.

"Um, well, the hospital was… hard. But I'm glad I did it, and I'm so glad my mom was there. She appologized for the whole not coming out right away thing, by the way." Edward nodded tersely, still not sure if this made him think much more fondly of Bella's mother.

"And she knows about you," she said.

Edward's face registered surprise and a touch of apprehension. "She knows…. what exactly?" he asked pointedly.

Bella's eyes widened at his concern. "Oh, not about that! I'd never tell anyone about your secret. I wouldn't do that to you or your family. But she knows that we are together." Bella looked at Edward, unsure suddenly. Was it presumptuous of her to think that they were 'together'?

Edward smiled. "How'd that come about?"

Bella groaned dramatically. "She suckered it out of me over milkshakes." Edward laughed at the mental image. "And she insists on meeting you while she's here. And that we tell Charlie about us." Bella shot Edward another uncertain glance.

Edward nodded his head. "That makes sense. When do you want to introduce me?"

Bella couldn't conceal her surprise. "You're willing to meet my parents? You don't think it's too soon for the meet-the-folks moment?"

Edward studied her for a moment. "Do you not want me to meet your parents?"

Bella's eyes widened, concerned she'd offended him. "No! I just don't want to scare you off."

Edward chuckled. "Bella, I'm a hundred-year-old vampire, I'm not scared of parents."

Bella playfully cringed. "Hundred years? Wow, I didn't know I was dating such a grandpa. We probably shouldn't tell my parents that part." Bella made sure she kept a playful lilt to her voice. Edward laughed.

"So, back to my original question. When do you want to handle the formal introductions?"

Bella thought about it. She feels like she already did one really hard thing today and didn't think she had it in her to do another. "Tomorrow?"

Edward nodded. "Tomorrow then."

Edward looked suddenly toward the door. "Well, if you don't want me to meet your mom until tomorrow, I should go." Edward kissed her forehead before disappearing out the window in a split second.