Chapter 3

Edward sat in stillness for two hours as Bella slept. His thoughts were racing the whole time. He alternated between anguish at Bella's trauma, the intense need to execute revenge upon her attackers, the revelation that Bella not only knew that he was a vampire, but felt safe with him, which he felt conflicted about. And finally, their mutual declarations of love for each other. This last thought brought an incredulous smile to his face.

Edward was stirred from his thoughts when Bella started to kick out at her bedding. He glanced over to see he start to thrash and fight against the comforter. Her head rocked from side to side, and she started to scream out, "No! Get off me!" Edward was by her side in an instant. Concerned about her head injury, Edward gently cradled her head to keep it from thrashing from side to side. "Bella, wake up!" he said urgently. "You're having a nightmare." Bella's eyes flew open in panic, and she swatted at Edward blindly. Edward withdrew himself to across the room in a flash. Bella panted as she got her bearings. She was in her bed, her bedding was in a tangled mess at her legs, and Edward was on the other side of her room, pinning himself against the wall with a pained look in his eyes.

Several things came rushing back to Bella at once and she put her head in her hands as feelings of overwhelm came over her. First, it hadn't been a dream, it had been real, she had been raped. Second, Edward was here, in her room. Third, he was a vampire. Fourth, he loved her. Fifth, and possibly most mortifyingly, she had told him that she loved him.

Flopped back onto her pillow, with her hands still over her face, tears started to fall in awkward paths down either side of her head toward her ears, dampening her hairline. She tried to hide her sniffle, feeling like she had cried too much in front of Edward already.

"You don't have to hide from me, Bella," Edward said, as if able to read her mind.

Bella didn't move her hand from her face, but allowed the sniffle to become audible. She took a shaky breath, still rattled from seeing the blur of faces hovering over her body in her dream.

"Can I come closer?" Edward asked, still remembering the way she swatted him away from her. Bella nodded, still covering her face with her hand. Edward got close to the bed and Bella turned away from him. Hesitating, Edward started to sit down on the bed behind her back. He gently placed his hand on her shoulder, ready to pull away at the slightest indication that she was uncomfortable. Bella leaned ever so slightly into his touch. He stroked her shoulder soothingly for long, silent minutes, while Bella's sniffles settled.

Edward heard them approach before Bella did, a mixture of anxious chattering and string of thoughts. Bella was startled by the knock at the front door. She sat half upright with a mixture of confusion and anxiety.

"It's Angela and Jessica," Edward informed Bella. "They have your jacket from last night. Also, they wanted to check on you." Bella didn't question how he knew this information.

Bella lied down with a groan. "I'm not ready to see anyone else."

Edward started to get up. "I'll handle it."

Bella thought about protesting but decided against it.

Edward glided down the stairs and opened the door to two very surprised faces. Angela recovered first. "Oh, hi Edward."

"Angela," he greeted politely with a slight nod of his head. "Jessica."

"Um," Jessica said, closing her mouth finally, trying to recover from her shock at seeing Edward answer Bella's door. "We brought Bella her jacket. She left it in my car last night." Jessica held up the jacket as evidence.

"That was very nice of you," Edward said, as Jessica peeked around him, looking for Bella.

"Is Bella home?" Jessica asked. "We wanted to check on her."

"She's resting right now and not up for visitors at the moment," Edward said, ignoring the obvious contradiction that he was a visitor. "I'll let her know you dropped by."

Jessica, rebuffed, awkwardly handed over Bella's jacket to Edward's outstretched hand. "Oh, okay," she said.

"And, um, can you let her know that she can call, anytime, if she wants to talk," Angela said softly with kind and troubled eyes.

Edward smiled kindly at Angela, moved by the anguish she felt at Bella's trauma, they had that in common. "I will. You're a good friend, Angela." He didn't extend the same compliment to Jessica, whose thoughts were more conflicted, tangled up in her competition with Bella and concern over if this would make Bella more interesting to Mike.

Edward bid them goodbye and gently closed the door on their retreating forms. He smiled slightly to himself as he heard Jessica's incredulous thoughts and corresponding inquiry toward Angela about Edward's presence. Edward Cullen was at her house! Answering the door for her! Did she call him? Are they together? Do you think he knows what happened? Angela didn't offer further engagement other than, "I don't know, maybe. I hope that she's okay."

Edward hung Bella's jacket up on the hook by the door and went back upstairs. Bella looked up when he walked in. "What did they say?" she asked.

"Not much. They were surprised to see me answer the door." Bella joined Edward in smiling at that image. "Angela wants me to convey to you that you can call her anytime if you want to talk."

Bella had an odd expression on her face. This was another moment that his inability to read her mind drove Edward crazy.

"What are you thinking?" he asked her.

Bella fingered a loose thread. "I really like Angela, she's been really nice to me. I'm grateful that she was the one to find me, though I'm concerned about Jessica knowing. I guess it's just a lot to have other people know about what happened." Bella looked up suddenly, "Did they tell anyone at school?" she asked with sudden anxiety.

Edward shook his head. "Mike asked about you at lunch and Angela covered for you, said that you weren't feeling well when you went out last night and that you were likely home sick."

Bella slumped in relief. Then she looked up at him suspiciously. "How did you know I was hurt then?"

Edward hesitated for a slight moment, but decided that the cards were all on the table now. "Angela didn't tell anyone what happened, but she did think about it."

Bella's eyes widened slightly. "Oh, so you… can read minds?"

"Yes," Edward said, watching her expression closely, trying to see if this was the piece that finally scared her away from him. He'd leave the moment she told him to, though a part of his heart would always be in her possession. "All, except for one," he added significantly. "It's rather frustrating."

Bella scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. "You can hear everyone else's thoughts, but not mine?" Edward nodded. "Is there something wrong with me?"

Edward laughed. "I just told you that I can read minds and you think there's something wrong with you." Bella pursed her lips stubbornly. Edward chuckled at her expression.

Edward's phone buzzed in his pocket, he whipped it out quickly. "Yes? Hmm? Okay. Thanks." He shut his phone and quickly stuck it back in his pocket.

"Who was that?" Bella asked.

"Alice," Edward said. "She called to give me a heads up that Charlie's coming home now."

Bella took a moment to process this information. She glanced at the clock and said, "Yeah, he said he was only going in for a half shift, he didn't want to leave me alone for too long. Umm… How did Alice…?"

Edward hesitated a moment. It was one thing to tell Bella all his secrets, it was another thing to tell his family's secrets. But Alice must have known that Bella would hear her call would asks this question. He decided to tell Bella and gave Alice a moment to intervene with another call. When his phone remained silent in his pocket, Edward said, "Alice can see parts of the future, decisions people make."

"Oh," was all Bella said. Then she looked up at Edward, suddenly processing the fact that he was in her bedroom and Charlie was on his way home. Bella was grateful toward Alice for giving them the heads up. "You probably shouldn't be here when Charlie gets here."

Edward nodded. "I can leave, but I won't be far. I'll be right outside, just at the edge of the trees. If you need me at all, just say my name, and I'll be here."

Bella wanted to tell him that he didn't need to bother, that he should go home, don't worry about her, she'll be fine. But a part of her was comforted by the idea of him being nearby. She nodded. He bent over her and kissed the top of her head, she leaned into his cold lips and sighed, amazed at how comforting it was to be with him, and the anxiety that was beginning to form in her chest at the thought of having to separate.

They both heard the crunch of Charlie's cruiser on the front gravel. Edward pulled away, took in Bella's pained expression. "I'll be right outside," he promised. At the sound of the front door opening and Charlie call out Bella's name in question, he was gone, a soft sway of the curtain at the window. Bella got up clumsily and rushed to the window. Edward stood at the edge of the trees, waiting for her to see him, before sliding into the darkness of the trees, out of sight.

Bella heard Charlie's heavy steps come up the stairs, suddenly aware of how noisily Charlie moved compared to Edward.

A gentle knock sounded at the door before it opened. "Bella? Oh, you're up," Charlie said, spotting her standing at the window. Charlie came up and stood next to her, looking out her window with her. Bella's anxiety suddenly hitched, worried he might see Edward. Charlie gave a sigh though and asked her, "How are you feeling?"

After the intensity of staring into Edwards eyes so much and confessing vulnerable truths, it was a relief to Bella's nervous system to stand side by side with Charlie. Less vulnerable. "Um, okay, I had to take a pain med and then I took a nap." Bella left out the part where Edward helped her get her meds and confessed his love for her while confirming that he was a vampire. Charlie did not need to know about that part of her day, Bella tried to contain the slight smile that was creeping in.

Charlie nodded satisfied at her answer. "Are you hungry?"

Bella eyed Charlie speculatively, thinking about Charlie's poor cooking skills. "Um, I'm not sure if I'll be able to cook that well with my broken hand. I mean I guess I could make-"

Charlie cut her off with an incredulous look, "Bella, honey, I was talking about ordering a pizza. I have no expectations of you cooking, or cleaning, or doing anything at all remotely helpful around the house, not for a long, long, while."

Bella offered a self-conscious smile, "Oh, right, yeah, pizza sounds great." Charlie nodded and left to put in the order.

Alone in her room, Bella was amazed at how not alone she felt, knowing that Edward was right outside, listening for her to call his name. Bella took a moment to reflect on the amazing turn of events. Her entire life had turned upside down in a matter of 24 hours. There were profoundly horrible moments that she'd be unlikely to forget for the rest of her life, as she recalled her assault with a shudder. There was also an immense joy and excitement that is being in love with Edward Cullen, who loved her back. A profoundly good thing that she also would be unlikely to forget for the rest of her life. She had to admit, it was very confusing to know how to feel, but she tried to cling to the excitement of new love as much as she could.

Bella marched downstairs when Charlie announced that pizza had arrived. They sat in companionable silence, eating. Charlie shot concerned glances to Bella every once in a while. Bella tried to look very interested in her pizza slice she was eating.

"Were you okay being here by yourself when I went to work today?" Charlie asked, guilt flooding his voice.

Bella nodded. "I was fine, Charlie. You don't have to be here 24/7. You were barely gone long enough for me to get lonely." It was true. Charlie hadn't been gone more than ten minutes before Edward knocked on the door.

Charlie sighed. "I should really be here. I would have Bill cover for me, but he's down with some nasty stomach bug."

"Really, it's fine, don't worry about me."

Charlie gave her a look. "I don't think there will be a moment of any day that I don't worry about you." Bella was taken aback by the intense love and concern in Charlie's face. She was not used to Charlie being so emotive. "Especially now, after what happened," he added. Bella looked down.

The house phone rang then, saving Bella from responding to the intensity of Charlie's statement. Charlie got up to answer it before holding the phone out toward Bella. "It's your mother."

Charlie went into the living room and turned on the TV to give Bella some privacy.

Bella put the phone to her ear. "Mom?" she asked.

"Bella!" came her mother's erratic voice on the other end. "I'm sorry I haven't called or been able to fly out right away. Phil had a really important game today and I just couldn't miss it. Charlie told me what happened. I'm so sorry, sweetie. I'm at the airport right now about to get on my plane. I should be there in the morning."

"Mom, it's okay, don't worry about it. It will be nice to see you."

Bella heard muffled announcement through the phone. "Baby, I've got to go, they're calling my flight. I love you! I'll see you soon!"

"Bye mom. I love you too. See you soon." Bella hung up the phone.

Charlie turned down the volume when she wondered in the living room. "Mom's coming. She'll be here in the morning."

"Good," Charlie said, but there was a tone behind his voice. He still hadn't forgiven Renée for not rushing to the airport as soon as she heard Bella was in the hospital. To be honest, Bella wasn't sure if she had either. But that was her mother, her erratic, hairbrained mother. She came through eventually, but there was a reason Bella had chosen to live with Charlie.

Charlie turned to look at Bella when she didn't say anything else. "You okay, kiddo?"

Bella pursed her lips and nodded quickly. "Yeah, I'm just kind of tired. I think I'm going to go to bed."

"Okay, just holler if you need me," Charlie said as he turned back to the TV.

"Will do," Bella promised, and rushed upstairs.

Bella latched the door closed and stood in the middle of her room with her stomach a mix of emotions. "Edward," she whispered as a test.

In a flash, he was in front of her, the faintest breeze as evidence that the window had opened for a fraction of a second. He didn't say anything for a moment as he tried to assess her expression. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"My mother's on her way," she said. "She'll be here in the morning."

Edward was still trying to read her emotions, wishing desperately to be able to read her mind. "And that's bad?" he asked tentatively.

Bella closed her eyes and shook her head. "No, it's good. It's just that…" she trailed off.

"It's just that, what?" he prompted, not used to having to work so hard to get information out of people.

Bella sighed. "It's just that I really needed her last night, and she didn't come. She told Charlie that Phil had an important game the next day and she couldn't come out right away."

Edward's face softened with sympathy, while internally raging against Bella's mother for not prioritizing her. "Bella, I'm so sorry," he said and pulled her to his chest in a hug.

"I just don't understand how Phil's game could be more important than me," she sniffled into his chest.

"It's not," Edward assured her. "Nothing's more important than you."

Bella laughed darkly, "Tell that to my mother."

"Maybe I will," Edward said, serious.

Bella pulled away with wide eyes. "No, Edward, you can't!"

Edward considered her for a moment. "I won't. But someone should. I can't believe that your mother wasn't on the first plane out."

"I'm sure that Charlie will say something to her. He's pretty mad at her."

Edward studied her face. "And you? Are you mad at her?"

Bella sighed. "Maybe. More hurt. There was this moment, last night when the doctor was being really nice to me and calling me 'Honey' like my mom would when I was hurt, and it made me really wish she was there. I told the doctor I wanted to wait to get the rape kit until my mom showed up. I just assumed she'd be on her way the minute she heard."

"And then?" Edward prompted when she didn't elaborate.

"And then Charlie told me she wasn't coming. It was so embarrassing to tell the doctor that my mom wasn't coming. I told the doctor I changed my mind and didn't want to get the rape kit done. I had done the police report and worked with the sketch artists on my own, but I needed my mom with me to do the rape kit, and she wasn't there."

Judgment and anger welled up in Edward's chest as Bella cried into his chest. He hated that as much as these four strange men hurt Bella, Bella's mother's own negligence hurt Bella possibly even more. He didn't know how to protect Bella from that pain, other than to vow to himself that he will always be there for her in a way that her mother never was.

Bella pulled away and went to sit on the edge of her bed. Edward sat next to her. "Do you think that you'd go through a trial? If they caught the guys?"

Bella looked at her lap. "I don't know. I mean, I don't really want to. But the thought of those men wandering the streets, doing it to someone else." Bella shuddered.

Edward was silent as he considered what to do. Bella didn't want to go to trial, but she didn't want these men to continue to walk the streets. Edward's need for revenge swelled in his chest. He could do this. He could do this one thing for her. He could kill these men who attacked her. He'd wait until Bella fell asleep and go out to find them. As soon as he had the thought, Edward's phone buzzed in his pocket. Edward sighed and slipped it out.

"Yes, Alice?" He said, expectantly, not even bother to glance at the caller ID.

"Edward, you should come home. Let's talk this out, we need to come up with a better plan. You killing these men would restart your blood rage, you'd have to stay away from Bella or risk hurting her."

Edward sighed. "I can't make any promises." He hung up the phone.

Bella looked at Edward expectantly. "Is everything okay?" she asked.

Edward slipped his phone back in his pocket. "Alice was trying to convince me to not go out there and kill those men."

Bella's eyes widened in shock. "And you shouldn't!" she exclaimed.

Edward looked at her. "But I could. It would be so easy. I've done it before. I can save you the pain of having to go to trial. I can ensure that those men never hurt another woman the way they hurt you."

Bella struggled to compose herself. "Why doesn't Alice want you to do it?" she tried.

Edward sighed. "I haven't killed a human in a long time. I have been on what my family calls a 'vegetarian diet' for several decades now. Our whole family doesn't hunt humans, we live off of the blood of animals. It took several excruciating months to go through the blood withdraws after my last human binge. I only targeted other predators, men who raped or abused, as an attempt to justify my kills." Edward couldn't keep the self-loathing out of his voice.

Bella was silent, somewhat appalled by what she just heard. Edward studied her face, wondering if this was the moment that she decided he was too dangerous to be with. Part of him hoped that she would.

Bella considered this new information. "If you did go after these men and killed them, and then had to go through the blood withdraws again, would I still be able to see you?" she asked.

Edward sighed. "No. It would be too dangerous for me to be around you."

Bella shook her head, determined. "No, I can't go through that. If it comes to it, I'll go to trial. I don't want you to kill them. Promise me you won't." Bella looked Edward in the eyes.

Edward battled within himself. He saw a determined strength in her eyes. He nodded once. "I promise."

Bella sat and fidgeted for a moment. She normally showered in the evening before bed. She hadn't showered since coming home from the hospital. She thought for a moment, recalled the doctor saying that she had 72 hours to do the rape kit. She did a bit of time math, wrestling with the idea of doing the rape kit when her mom got there in the morning. It wouldn't be too late. And it would help if they went to trial. Which was her main option to put these men away and save Edward from the repercussions of killing them. She would do this for him.

"I'm going to do it," Bella said suddenly. Edward looked at her confused. "When my mom gets here in the morning, I'm going to have her take me back to the hospital to get my rape kit done."

Edward reached over and squeezed her hand. "If that's what you want to do, then I support your decision," he said.

Bella took a deep inhale, trying to be brave at what was to come in the morning.

"Do you want me there?" he asked.

Bella thought about it for a moment before shaking her head. As much as she loved him and craved his presence, there was something way too intimate about what was going to happen at this procedure. While her mom might be unreliable, she was good with the emotional stuff, and she felt safe going to medical stuff with her mom. Her mom has been there for every medical appointment, was the one to give her all the sex talks.

Bella yawned finally and Edward insisted she get some sleep. She didn't fight him as he tucked her into bed and she fell quickly into sleep. She woke once in the middle of the night with a nightmare, but Edward was there to comfort her. She slept fitfully the remainder of the night.