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

A huge thank you to my beta Madmooey18 for putting in the effort and helping me make this story what it is.

Author's Note at the end.

Edward taps his fingers on the table he is standing by as he waits for everyone to arrive. Most individuals at the party are people he doesn't know. His family hasn't arrived yet, and he has told himself at least twenty times so far that he can't go and drag Bella away from Alice. He so wanted to make her spend more time with him, but he could tell that she was nervous and needed an out. He then asked her if she was looking for Alice, and that was all she needed to latch on. As much as he wants to spend time with her, he can understand social anxiety and wanting a familiar face more than anyone. He isn't going to put her through the uncomfortable experience of being upset simply because he likes her. He can hang out with her later on in a more chill place. It's not like he is the one causing this extreme anxiety.

Finally, he spots Rosalie making her way through the crowd toward him. It's only once she reaches him, does he understand why she took so much time to come back. She went all out. She is wearing a knee length red dress that hugs her curves like a glove. Her hair is straightened and her make up is extravagant and rich in color. Rosalie is one of the only people he knows that has the confidence to be overdressed and the ability to pull it off effortlessly.

"Did anyone arrive?" Rosalie asks him after she gives a spin and he tells her that she looks fabulous.

"Only Bella," he answers.

Rosalie perks up and starts looking around and asks him, "Where is she?" When Edward's answer doesn't come swift enough for Rosalie, she flicks his nose.

He swats her hand away and rubs his nose while complaining, "What the hell, Rose? Why did you do that?"

"You weren't answering my question," she replies, twisting her arms across her chest.

He rolls his eyes then checks his nose in the reflection of one of the numerous mirrors in the space while telling her, "If you had allowed me some time I would have told you exactly where she is."

"Okay, where is she?" Rosalie asks him impatiently, looking like a puppy waiting for its snack.

He almost laughs at the imagery that pops in his head, but refrains from doing so, and replies, "She is inside with Alice."

She thanks him quickly and turns in the direction of the room Alice is in, but Edward stops her before she makes her escape and asks her, "Where do you think you are going?"

"To meet her," Rosalie tells him in a duh tone.

"The hell you are. Stay here," Edward replies putting his hands around her shoulders to stop her from leaving. She raises an eyebrow at him and silently stares as if to ask "are you stupid?"

"This is Alice we are talking about. The poster child of only child syndrome. She is going to be like a kid with it's safety blanket. If you want to have a shot at Alice not poisoning her mind against you, you need to make sure that Alice believes you have no interest in being friends with Bella."

Rosalie stares at him for a minute while twisting his words in her head and then huffs in irritation and shoves his hands off her shoulders and mutters, "Fine I won't. Happy?"

"Very," he replies, not bothering to hide his smirk.

She sulks silently for a minute with her arms across her chest as she taps her foot on the floor until she spots the smirk on Edward's lips which prompts her to say, "Stop smirking or I will slap the smirk off your face. Insufferable asshole who has deluded himself into thinking he is always right."

Edward raises his hands in a peaceful gesture then says, "Just because I am right doesn't mean I am an asshole."

"What if you aren't right?" she asks him in a challenging tone and takes a step toward him then continues, "What if I don't care if Alice poisons her mind against me or not? What if I don't care about what she thinks of me?" She raises an eyebrow as she stares him in the eye.

Meeting her eyes and refusing to look away, Edward tells her, "Don't be ridiculous. You want everybody to like you, Rosalie. That is just who you are."

Not looking away, she takes a step toward him and states, "Well, you are wrong. I no longer care what people think of me."

"When did that happen?" he asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Recently," she replies.

"How recent?" he asks knowing full well that it was decided less than a minute ago.

"I can't remember," she replies, not missing a beat.

"Good for you," he tells her then drops his eyes and mentions for one of the waiters carrying drinks to come to him. If Rosalie wants to lie to herself, let her do so.

He looks around as he sips on his champagne and waits for his family to arrive. He isn't disappointed as five minutes later he notices Rosalie perk up and looks to the front door and spots his family making their way to him and Rosalie. Almost his whole family, as of course, Jasper isn't with them.

Son of a bitch.

At this point, he doesn't know who he is angry at more, Jasper for continuously pulling this shit, or Alice for tolerating it. He greets his mum with a kiss to the cheek and then does the one arm hug and pat to the back greeting with his brother and father.

"Has Alice's friend arrived?" his father asks the question probably on his brother and mother's mind.

"Bella is inside chatting with Alice," Edward replies, making sure to include and stress her name as he doesn't want any of his family to offend her by calling her the wrong one. If he wants a shot with her, he needs to make sure that his family are on their best behavior. Bella doesn't strike him as the kind to tolerate disrespect.

"Will you go and call them, dear?" his mother asks but before he can reply, Rosalie beats him to the punch and says, "I'll do it." Barely concealing the excitement bubbling to the surface as she says so, and then quickly leaves before anyone else can say anything.

"Edward," his father calls him.

Edward looks up from his phone to him and Carlisle states, "I want you to start putting aside more time in your schedule to help your brothers."

Helping your brothers is code for doing less than legal work. Edward wants to refuse. He wants to throw a temper tantrum and curse bloody murder and not help. He hates the family business. He took over as CEO so that no one would tell him he should be helping more.

Edward doesn't stomp his feet and throw a fuss, instead, he nods his head with the best poker face he can master which if Emmett's expression is any indication, isn't good.

"Carlisle, what did I say about business and parties?" his mother who isn't happy with her husband's request demands. To say she thinks of her youngest son as her sensitive baby boy who shouldn't have to do this is a huge understatement.

His father thinks the reason he can't handle the family business is because Esme indulged his whims too much. She was also the one who persuaded him to shadow his dad in the company to appease him. The truth is that Esme could tell from his tender years that her son was too sensitive and soft for the mafia life, but Edward was the one who figured out early on that to be respected in this family, he would need to prove himself to be useful. That's why he threw himself into the legal business and learned as much as he could and as quickly as possible. He even interned for other businesses in high school, so that he would become an irreplaceable asset to his family.

Carlisle opens his mouth to reply but closes it as he spots Rosalie coming back with Alice and Bella with her. Gone is the girl who seemed an interaction away from jumping from her skin. In her place is a woman who has the confidence of a supermodel. He knows a social mask when he sees one, and Bella is very good at masking. He hides his smile as he watches them come over. Of course, while Alice is lagging behind Rosalie, Bella is walking beside her like she is refusing to be led. For all the bravado that Alice claims, he is starting to realize that Alice thinks she comes off the way Bella does.

"Everyone, this is Bella," Alice states pointing at Bella and then she continues, "Bella, these are Carlisle and Esme Cullen, and you already know Emmett and Edward."

Bella shakes and greets the three new arrivals.

"It's so nice to meet you. Alice has told us so much about you," Esme greets.

Bella side-eyes Alice for two seconds then replies, "Then I have a lot of work to undo because my dearest friend likes to blame me for all of the trouble she gets in."

As expected, everyone laughs at her joke, but it's a short lived moment as a person behind Edward mutters, "I feel like that will be a very hard thing for you to do."

Edward looks behind him and frowns, finding Jasper standing there. Alice walks around and kisses Jasper, but it is chaste as Jasper pushes her away gently. As always he is subtle and Alice is pretty good at hiding her frown before it appears on her face, but not fast enough to escape Bella's notice.

"Bless your heart, my dear. You have the faith of the world in your girlfriend. She is quite the lucky gal for having you," Bella tells him after a moment of silence. She could have gone for the jugular, but Jasper seems like a fun person to smash slowly, and she loves a good game.

I will have loads of fun shredding him to pieces.

Jasper doesn't reply. He silently glares at her. Bella tilts her head to the side and smiles at him a smile more fake than a crocodile's tears. They continue to stare at each other while the rest moves on and starts talking about something else.

Bella only realizes that they are in a world of their own once she hears Carlisle address her, "I am sorry? What did you say?" Bella asks, sounding confused and out of it which she tried to mask to no avail.

"I was wondering what your thoughts were on the turning of Roe v wade?" Carlisle states slowly as if she is dense.

WHEN THE FUCK DID THAT HAPPEN?

"Wait, what? When was it overturned?" Bella asks in shock, looking horrified.

Edward, who until this moment was too shocked by what his father just asked her to answer, quickly says, "It hasn't been overturned but a leak came out from the Supreme Court that the judges plan on voting on the matter."

He says that in the hopes of soothing her fear, but it doesn't change a thing since she looks at her fingers and sounds heartbroken and resigned as she says, "Then it will be overturned. Those judges are going to vote in favor of overturning it."

She struggles with trying to keep a straight face after hearing the news.

Edward looks at all of the pain and turmoil that she looks to be in and keeps repeating in his head that he can't reach out and touch her hand when all he wants to do is to hold her in his arms and take away all of her pain and fears.

"Color me surprised! For someone who had two kids at an inconvenient time and age, you are pretty bothered," Jasper pipes up.

If the family's looks were horrified when Carlisle singled out Bella to ask her on the topic, it is nothing compared to the look on everyone's face now. Edward will be having a talk with his brother because this isn't it. He will not let his father and brother insult the woman he likes that way. Forget the fact that she isn't here with him and they aren't dating, she shouldn't be a potential partner to him for them to respect her. What has gotten into his family? Jasper, he can understand. He has always been an asshole, but when did his dad become one too.

If looks could kill, Jasper would be ashes on the ground. They wouldn't even know who did it since both Bella and Edward are glaring daggers at him, and each of their glares rivals the other. Alice looks like she just got slapped in the face. She is shocked and frozen.

DID YOU THINK THAT I WANTED KIDS?

NEWS FLASH, I DID NOT. I WANTED TO BE FREE.

I WANTED TO MODEL AND TRAVEL AROUND THE WORLD.

I WANTED TO BE HAPPY NOT WORRY ABOUT MY BABY'S SAFETY.

THAT OPTION WAS STOLEN FROM ME, YOU FUCKING IDIOT.

Bella doesn't say anything, instead, she stares silently at Jasper for a minute before saying in a monotonous tone, "It's called protecting the bodily autonomy of others. Now if you will excuse me, I need some air."

Bella makes her way to the balcony and closes the door behind her. She takes a deep breath as she hold the rails tightly. Her knuckles turn white and it takes everything in her to not scream.

You will not cry.

You will not cry.

You will not let some idiot make you cry.

You will not make some asshole that knows nothing about what you have gone through make you cry.

Fuck

She feels betrayed by herself as tears roll down her face that she sweeps away quickly. Why is she here? She doesn't belong. She is unwanted here. She is better off going home.

Even better yet, she is better off going back to Forks and disappearing there for the rest of her life. She has no business being here.

She is trying to revive a career that is dead. No one likes an expired model, and no one likes a woman that keeps hanging around even though she has aged out of the place she is. No one thinks a 30 year old hanging out in high school is cool. They think that she is a weirdo.

She is hanging out in a train station with luggage waiting for a train that has already left and ends up having no option but to ride a cart.

She needs to leave. She needs to go. She will go home, pack her bags and between then and there she will have figured out where to go. She can't go to Forks, that's for sure, but that doesn't mean she can't go to another place. She will figure out a place where she can disappear, but first, she needs to calm down, and fix how she looks.

She fails miserably and lets out a cry then instinctively clamps her hand on her mouth. She can't have anyone hear her and know that something is wrong. But the tears keep rolling down and her pain keeps rising up and before she knows it she dreams she is back in her father's office, cursing her stupidity and honesty.

After minutes of silence that make her question if her dad didn't fall asleep, he finally mutters, "I haven't consented to it."

She twists the fabric of her skirt as she tells him, "You don't need to. I am older than sixteen, daddy."

He huffs in irritation then mutters more forcefully, "I haven't agreed to this. You can't do it without my permission."

She rolls her eyes at him and gives him a look as if to ask, "are you stupid?" before saying, "You don't need to, daddy. I can do it on my own."

She is starting to regret telling him. It's not like she needs his permission. She is old enough to have an abortion without letting anyone know. If she was too young to choose to have an abortion then she should be too young to be a mum. She is just doing it out of courtesy.

She doesn't want a baby. A baby will only get between her and her plans. Plus, she shouldn't spend the rest of her life paying for something she didn't even want to do to begin with. This is not the choice of James or her father. This is her body and it's her choice.

"Just because you can do it on your own, doesn't mean that I will allow it."

She looks up in surprise at her father. Who does he think he is?

Allow it? If he thinks it is up to him to decide, he has another thing coming.

"Dad, I will not be keeping this fetus. I will have an abortion. I am not asking for permission. I am just letting you know," she tells him firmly standing her ground.

She hasn't been speaking to Phil, like her father wants. She moved to Forks to live with him, like he wanted. She is going to the high school in Forks instead of the one in Port Angeles despite the one in Forks not fitting her needs, like he wants. She lets him drive her back and forth to school instead of using the bus, like he wants. She doesn't hang out at any of her classmates' homes and asks them over instead, like he wants.

Since she moved here, she has been bending backward to fit his every whim and expectation to keep the peace and make this transition easier, even though it should be the other way around since she is the one that lost her mother. She has rationalized everything he has done so far as him wanting the best for her, but this, she will draw the line. A teen pregnancy is not the best for her. She will not let him decide for her this time.

He glares angrily at her and raises his voice as he says, "I am your father. You can't do anything without my permission."

Not impressed by his crap, Bella tells him, "For most of my life you have been absent. Phil has made more decisions for me in the last four years than you did in my entire life. Your permission would have been valuable when I needed it, not when I can make decisions on my own."

She gets up and goes to the door to leave the room. Her words are final and they aren't up to debate. She is done letting him control her.

She hears a whizz and looks to her left and finds two inches away from her ear, a bullet wedged in the wall. She freezes as her mind scrambles to register what just happened.

"If you move, I will have a bullet in your brain before you even blink. Now turn around and sit your ass down in that chair. I am not done talking."

She shuts the part of her brain that remembers what happened before she remembers everything he did after.

She takes a deep breath and tries to think of good things. She rolls her shoulders back and raises her head and looks into the horizon. Her tears dry. Her grip becomes stronger. Her heart hardens. There is no point in crying over spilled milk.

It is over and done with, and now, she is stronger than ever.

Hello lovely people,

I apologize for the late update, but school has been a real struggle and writing ended up taking a backseat.

I am back to the normal scheduling system. I hope you liked this chapter. It has one of my favorite scenes so far. Take a guess which one it is.

Let me know what you think in the review section.

Until the next update,

Stay Safe