Disclaimer: Obviously, I don't own Twilight or any of its characters. I just like to play with their lives every once in a while.

Thank you to my partner in crime, My-Bella, for always making sure all those dang commas go where they are supposed to, and for helping me keep my sanity when the plot bunnies get out of control. I couldn't do this without you.

I was thinking she would come over, stay over
Wake up hungover, still head over heels for me
Thought it was something we could talk over
Drink over, then it would be over
Back to how it used to be
No, but it's the kind where the sheets get colder
And she don't need no shoulder to cry on
She's gone, she ain't pulling over
It's just over

~Just Over, Luke Bryan

~Bella~

Last place I wanted to be was Edward's aunt's house right now. However, when Emmett extended the invitation for her she'd left me no way out, sending with him the message that if she had to drag me to her dinner table kicking and screaming like a baby pig being chased, then that's what she'd do.

I wasn't sure if Edward would be there or not, but after talking to Emmett and learning his letter from our father had pretty much disclosed my true reason for running off after high school, I was fairly certain Edward's did too and that by now everyone had been clued in.

It had been three days and I'd not heard a word from Edward. Not that I really expected to. In the end I'd still broken his heart no matter what my reasoning was and even if he now understood why I'd left, it didn't change the fact that I'd not only stomped on his heart like a wild bull, but I'd lied to him in doing so.

So, despite my overwhelming discomfort at the idea, here I was sitting on Esme Cullen's front porch drinking a glass of lemonade as I stared at the driveway willing it to not let Edward come rolling up it in his truck.

I'd already checked to see if it was at the barn.

I could hear quiet talk and at times soft laughter drifting out from the house. I knew my brother loved the family he'd married into. We had both been thought of as part of it long before he and Rose tied the knot. He had insisted I was still just as much a part of it as I'd always been, but it didn't feel that way anymore. I felt like everyone was watching me, waiting to see if I'd take off again. Felt like I was under a microscope. Of course, Emmett had assured me that was all in my head and I'd see that for myself at dinner.

"Oh, there you are," Esme said over the squeaking of the wooden screen door as she opened it. I looked up at her and forced a smile. She had a calm sweet smile on her face. Nothing at all to indicate that she had any harsh feelings towards me. Sitting down on the porch swing next to me she asked, "I was wondering if you could do me a favor?"

"Uh, sure. What'd ya need?" I couldn't help being a little nervous. But I also didn't feel as if I could say no since they were kind enough to let me stay in their house while I was still here.

"First," she said as she took my hand off my lap and held it between hers, "I want you to relax. No one here is going to lecture you or give you a hard time."

I nodded and softly replied, "Thanks," before looking away, trying to hide my unease from her.

"Look here," she requested, gently turning my face so I was facing her again. "I'm not going to pretend that we weren't all hurt when you left. And not only did it hurt us personally, it hurt us to see Edward heartbroken so badly. But, Bella, now that I know why you chose to leave, I—no we understand. I can't speak for everyone, but I can for Carlisle and myself and we forgive you."

"Thank you," I told her, failing to keep my voice from trembling.

"Oh, sweetheart," she cooed, wrapping me in her arms. "You don't need to thank me. We all know how lost you were after Renee passed. We also know how you beat yourself up over it. But we just really wish you'd have come to us with what was going on with Charlie. You could have stayed here with us, sweetheart. Your father was just so broken over losing her I don't think he was even aware of how badly he was hurting you."

"Maybe," I mumbled against her shoulder where my head was buried. I don't know that anyone could ever convince me his hatred wasn't done very purposeful. Drunk or not.

She sat up and gently shoved me back so I was sitting up too.

"You listen to me, Isabella Marie." When she was sure I was paying attention, she continued. "You are not responsible for your mother's death. What happened to her was a horrible accident."

I wanted to believe what Esme was telling me with all my heart. It would be so easy. Looking in her eyes all I saw was the same motherly love that had been there all my life. This woman had been a second mother to me for as long as I could remember and I knew she'd never be anything other than completely honest with me. But it was still so hard to let go of the demons from my past.

She cupped my face between her hands, her voice was stern, yet loving at the same time. "Tell me you know that, Bella. You have to stop beating yourself up over this. I don't know the specifics of what Charlie said or did to you, but whatever it is, he was so very wrong. He's gone, so whatever did is gone too. Let it go. It will eat at you 'til there's nothing left. I don't want to see that for you. You deserve to have a life that is full of love and happiness. It's what your mother would want for you too. And, Bella, in the end Charlie knew he was wrong too. Else he'd never have apologized or try to set things straight with Emmett and Edward."

She paused for a minute and pulled in a long breath of air and then let it out. "Please, please promise me you will let this guilt go. Please," she pleaded with me.

"I'll try," was all I could manage to give her.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"I'll take it," she agreed with a warm smile. She stood and held her hand out to me. "Why don't you come inside and help me finish up dinner?"

"Okay."

I followed her into their kitchen. So many memories flooded my mind. Edward squirting me with the sink sprayer. Me squirting him back. Eating breakfast at the island with him almost every morning, sneaking kisses with him when no one was looking. It felt as if most of my life was flashing before my eyes. I'd even learned to cook from his aunt in this house.

Why can't I have that life back?

"Bella?"

"Oh, huh. I'm sorry."

"Where'd you go, sweetheart? You were lost there for a second," Esme informed me.

"Oh, sorry. Was just remembering some things, I guess."

"Good memories, I hope," she said with a smile.

"Of course." I smiled back.

She reached in the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of water.

"Listen, before we get started on the rest of dinner, would you take this water out to the guy who's out there working on my fence? We had a bull get frisky the other day and he head-butted it and the dang thing came loose."

"Oh sure," I told her, straining my eyes to see where this guy was.

"He's just a little ways down the gravel road on the barn side of the fence," she offered, seeing me peering out the window.

I took the water from her and started for the door. However just as I grabbed the handle I turned to her and asked, "Do you remember the time Edward and I had a water fight out here?"

"Oh goodness. How could I ever forget that?" she chuckled. "Not only was there water dripping from every surface in the room, the floor was filling faster than the creek after a summer rain storm."

"It was," I agreed, giggling a little at the memory.

"Let's not forget that nephew of mine hitting me in the face with the water as the two of you fought for control of the sprayer. I'll never forget the look of horror on his face when he heard me gasp as the water hit me."

I was nodding and full on giggling now. I just couldn't help it. Edward had been so sure he was in such deep shit with her. But instead she'd busted out laughing with us and then helped us both clean up the mess.

"Oh, sweetheart," she said coming over to me. "Your laughter is such a beautiful thing. That's just how you were that day."

"It was a good day."

"Yes, it was. You should hold on to those happy times. Keep them in your heart where they are safe. You never know when you'll need to call on them to get you over the bumpy roads life tends to send us down."

"I'll do that," I promised her.

There was a strange feeling building in my chest as I headed out the door. Maybe it was just the emotions from all the good times I was thinking about. I wasn't sure what it meant, why taking some strange guy a bottle of water would cause such feelings, but hopefully it was a good thing.

Walking down the gravel drive the June sun was warm and bright in the evening sky. However, the bank of clouds in the west that was edging out the sun, warned of a rain storm moving in.

It wasn't nearly as warm as it'd be in Miami this time of the year, or as humid, but by the end of the summer it would be sweltering here just the same. I breathed in a long breath of the fresh Oklahoma air. It was filled with the scents of a farm, hay, horses and wood, while the air back in Miami had the scent of the salty ocean water in it.

It smelled good here.

I noticed a few horses grazing in the field and it reminded me to check on my horse Midnight Sun while I was here. It would be nice to take her for a ride; it had been way too long.

Maybe she won't be so mad at me for being gone so long.

As I made my way around the bend in the road just past the barn, I caught sight of the guy working on fixing the fence for Esme. Though the man's back was to me, there was something familiar about the outline of his body, the shape of his backside and his long legs. His t-shirt was hanging from the back pocket of his jeans and there was sweat glistening down the middle of his back as he stood and wiped his forehead on his arm. But the sun was in my eyes so it was hard to see.

However as soon as the man removed his work gloves and hat, and ran his fingers through his reddish-brown hair, I knew exactly who he was.

Edward.

I stood there unable to take my eyes off of him. No wonder the guy had seemed so familiar to me. His shoulders were a little broader and his arms more muscular. Not like a weight lifter, but more defined than they'd been four years ago. He looked damn good. For a moment I gave into my senses and remembered what it was like to feel those arms of his around me. The touch of those hands on me. I remembered his strength and how he could lift me like I weighed nothing and lay me on his bed before covering me with that glorious body of his as we loved one another.

I groaned inwardly as sensations stirred that I'd thought were dead for a long time now. Any time I'd tried to date someone in Miami, I'd never been able to develop any feelings for them. I'd end up just going through the motions and hating myself for it. And now…of course now my body responded to the one man in the world I couldn't have.

My own fault too.

Then in the blink of an eye, as if he'd sensed he was being watched, Edward turned around. The second our eyes met, panic welled in me, overriding any other thoughts I'd just had and the urge to flee overtook me.

I'd only managed to turn my back to him when his voice laced with frustration, exhaustion and something else that I couldn't quite pinpoint called out, stopping me in my tracks.

"Damn it, Bella! When you gonna quit running? You 'bout done playing this game?"

I could hear the crunch of his work boots on the gravel as he moved closer to me. Squeezing my eyes as tightly closed as I could, I started slowly counting to ten, telling myself on repeat, you can do this, as I tried to rope in my emotions. Once I'd thought I had, I spun thrusting out the bottle of water Mae had given me.

"Uh here, your Aunt Mae sent me out with this."

He didn't say anything but took the water from me, causing a jolt of energy to shoot up my arm when his hand touched mine. His gaze remained fixed on mine as he chugged most of the bottle down in one drink. Wiping the back of his hand across his mouth he kept staring at me like he was trying to figure out some complex puzzle.

That puzzle is you darlin'.

The weight of his constant stare and the heavy silence surrounding us had me feeling like a rabbit caught in a snare.

The clouds were moving in faster now, blocking out the sun. It would be raining soon. Desperate to do something, anything to shift the energy around us, I fought for something to say.

After nervously clearing my throat, I managed to muster out, "I, uh, didn't know it was you out here."

"No?"

"No," I confirmed, shaking my head slightly as if it helped convince him I was telling the truth. Hitching my thumb back in the direction of the house, I said, "I'll just be heading back now. Your aunt asked me to help her finish up supper."

"Like I said, still running," he retorted as I turned away from him.

His accusation set me off. I spun back around and snapped, "What do you want from me, Edward?"

"The truth," he shot back. "The whole truth."

There was fire burning in his eyes. I knew from experience that Edward was stubborn and determined when he set his mind on something. But he'd gotten a letter, same as me and Emmett. I didn't understand what more he wanted. He already knew it all.

Didn't he?

"Did you read the letter?" I asked.

"Yeah, but it was vague as hell," he replied, taking another step closer to me.

"Vague? What do you mean vague?"

I was confused now, not to mention tired and hungry. The fact that it had started to rain also didn't help. Rain showers and thunderstorms had always been a thing between Edward and me. Some of the best and most important things we'd done, said, and shared had happened during one or the other. It shouldn't surprise me now was no different.

Although I don't know that I'd call this a good time.

A loud rumble of thunder tore through the air and the rain came down harder.

"Well," he said, pressing me for an answer. He must have sensed my urge to escape. He grabbed hold of my wrist and held it tight enough that I couldn't pull away. His touch felt like lightning shooting up my arm. It thrilled and scared me at the same time that he could still affect me like that. And judging by the widening of his eyes, he felt it too.

I took a deep breath. "I don't know what you want me to say, Edward. You should have gotten your answers if you read the letter. There's nothing more to say."

I tried to take a step back, but his grip on my arm held firm.

"There's not going to be anymore running, Bella. I'm tired of the running. When you called me that day and told me you needed to talk, I never imagined you'd drop the bomb on me that you did. I could tell you were upset, but I thought you'd come over, tell me what was going on, we'd talk it over and then things would go back to normal."

He sighed and released my arm. Removing his hat and brushing his hair back out of his face he put it back on. He then set his eyes on me again.

"But that's not what you did, was it, Bella?"

I shook my head in response, unable to form any words.

"No, you wouldn't even come into the house. I couldn't figure out why that day, but I sure knew why after. You stood there at the bottom of the front steps and told me you were leaving. There was no talking about it, no 'this is what I'm thinking about'. Not even a plea for me to go with you. It was just over, you didn't want the same things as me anymore and then you were gone. Why?"

We stood there, getting wetter by the minute. I didn't know what to say to him. I didn't know what he wanted. What more I could tell him than what he'd already learned?

"Edward…I…ther—"

"Don't tell me there's nothing more, Bella."

His hand reached out and slid along my wrist until he was holding my hand. As his fingers twined with mine, I looked up into his eyes. Gone was the anger that had been brewing in them moments earlier. His eyes were now pleading with me. Begging me to give him the answers he was looking for.

"Please," he added when I didn't say anything. "Look," he said, taking hold of my other hand. "I know it has to do with your daddy. But the letter didn't say why or how. Just that he'd run you off. He said that he'd hurt you, and because of him you'd had to leave, that he'd left you no choice."

~Edward~

I saw a look of confusion cross her face. How could she be confused? What did she think had been in that letter? And if it hadn't said what she'd thought it had, then what wasn't I being told?

The longer she stood there in silence, the more I was convinced she was still hiding things from me. I'd had many scenarios flying through my head over what Sheriff Swan could have meant and right now I was beginning believe the worst one might just be true.

"What did he do to you, Bella? How did he hurt you? Because I'm really starting to think the worst here," I huffed, my patience was running out.

It was brief, but I'd seen it. The look of fear had filled her eyes if only for a second, before she'd looked away, but it was long enough to lead me to believe I was right.

I let go of her hands and grabbed her by the arms, forcing her to look right at me. "Damnit, Bella," I growled lowly. "Why didn't you ever tell me? Or at least Emmett for Christ's sake? Fuck, we could have protected you. I'd never in a million years have ever thought your daddy would ever lay a hand on you, but it all makes sense now."

"My daddy…. hit me…" she mumbled. "No, no, no. You don't know what you're talking about, Edward."

"I don't?" I barked. "Then clue me the hell in because nothing else makes sense. One day we're in the back of my truck making love by the river and the next you're running out of my life—our life. So, if I've got it so damn wrong, I'd say it's about damn time you clue me in to what's right. I'm tired, Bella. Tired of the lies. Tired of wondering why. You owe me the truth. If you ever really loved me, then you owe me at least that much.

"Fine. You want the truth? The truth is Charlie never laid a hand on me," she screamed over the thunder echoing all around us. "He never hit me."

"Never?"

"No, never. He didn't have to."

"You're talking in circles again," I yelled.

"He never hit me. He never did anything. He didn't want a thing to do with me except to remind me how it was my fault my momma wasn't with us anymore. How I let her down that day and because of it she was on the road when she should have been home. I'm the reason that tornado took her from us. The truth you wanted so damn bad is that my dad never let me forget for a second that I killed my momma."

"Bella—,"

"No, you wanted it so now let me get it all out," she demanded. "He'd never say a word to me. It was as if I didn't exist anymore. Then late at night, when neither you or Emmett were there he'd come wandering in drunk, telling me how I'd ruined his happiness, stolen the love of his life from him. He'd stand over me, leering down and telling me how I didn't deserve any happiness or love in my life because I'd taken his away.

"Over and over he'd remind me that he knew what a good person you were, how good your family was, and then he'd sneer and promise me that one day when all of you realized what I'd done and how unworthy I was, you wouldn't want me anymore and I'd get mine. How he couldn't stand to even look at me anymore and wanted me out of his house. That because I'd killed my momma I was now dead to him, he didn't have a daughter anymore."

She bent over, falling to her knees on the muddy ground, her whole body shaking with the tears I knew were falling.

"Jesus, Kitten," I dropped to my knees and pulled her into my arms. "Why didn't you ever tell me? Why the fuck did you keep this from me?" I croaked, my own voice failing me as I fought back my own tears.

I'd thought her father hitting her had been the worst that he could have done to her. I was wrong. So wrong. No instead he'd broken her. He'd taken from her the one thing he knew meant the most to her.

Me.

"We should get inside," I said to Bella. I held my hand out to help her up from the ground, but she didn't budge.

I told her again that we should head inside, the rain was really coming down now and we were both soaked. But she remained in the spot where she'd crumpled to her knees, crying.

"Bella?"

She looked up at me briefly, but all she could do was continue to cry. He whole body was shaking even more now. I was worried she'd completely fall apart from emotions she'd been hiding from for so long. Not to mention, she was probably getting cold from being drenched.

I stood to prepare to pick Bella up and carry her inside when I heard my Aunt Mae hollering for us from the house.

The rain was coming down so hard I couldn't see the house from where we were and normally it would be in plain view. All I could make out was the dim glow of the light that I knew was over the back door.

"Down here," I called back to her. "We'll be right there!"

I bent to pick up Bella but my foot slipped on the muddy ground. As I regained my footing, I looked up towards the house and saw a light bouncing and heading closer to us.

"Yo, Edward," I heard Emmett holler and realized it must be him headed toward us.

He came to a stop so fast as he reached us that he almost slid down into the mud.

"What's going on?" he asked me. "Why are ya'll still out here?" He looked down at Bella. "Hey, baby bird, you taking a bath out here or what?" he joked as he nudged his sister. It was then he noticed she was crying.

Looking back over to me, I could see he wanted answers as to why his sister was a sobbing mess.

"Not now, Em. Let's get her inside."

He nodded and reached out with the flashlight in his hand. "Take this and I'll get her."

"No," I told him.

"Look, dude, I don't know what happened out here between you two, the fact you're both still alive and breathing is a miracle. But I doubt that means you've resolved much. And we're all going to catch pneumonia if we don't get out of this rain soon."

"Right so get out of my way and let me get her," I told him, my old feelings of protectiveness resurfacing fiercely and overwhelmingly.

He stepped aside and I reached down and gathered Bella in my arms.

~Bella~

Finally, I was alone. Esme, Alice and Rose had all fussed over me after Edward had carried me in drenched from our talk.

Was it a talk? Argument? I wasn't sure.

What I did know was how amazing it had felt to be in his arms again. The second he'd picked me up, all thoughts of Charlie had faded away and I'd wanted nothing more than to burrow myself against Edward and hold on as tightly as I could.

I knew I had no right to feel that way. I'd been the one to walk away from him. But it had felt so right to have his arms around me, and right or wrong, I couldn't change it.

However, now I felt so empty. Hollow. The last thing I wanted to do was go downstairs and have dinner with his family.

They're your family too.

As I removed the towel I had wrapped around my hair, I heard the door across the hall open and shut. The door to Edward's old room. A room I had been in a million times. A room where he'd held me in his arms. Whether it was after making love, watching a storm roll in, or gazing at the stars while we sat talking on the big bench that sat under the window, being in his arms had been my favorite place to be. It was where I'd always felt safe and loved.

I took my time, combing the knots out of my hair and getting dressed. Time—I needed a little time before I faced the firing squad. My thoughts were a jumbled mess, jumping back and forth between turning off the light and crawling into the bed here in the guest room and avoiding dinner like the plague, or going down there and having dinner with the only real family I had left. And then in between those two was Edward. I couldn't help but wonder what he thought of what I'd told him.

Did he understand?

Did he see why I had to go?

Did he still hate me?

Thoughts of staying in this room hit me again, but I knew if I didn't go down, sooner or later someone would come after me. I also knew it was finally time to quit running. No matter what Edward thought, even if my reasons weren't enough for him, he'd been right about one thing. All I'd been doing all this time was running and it was time for it to stop. It was time for me to face what I'd done and let my family move on from it.

They needed to heal from it.

I needed to heal from it.

Taking a deep breath, I held it in and counted to ten before letting it out.

"Let's do this," I muttered to myself.

On my way down the stairs, my mouth had begun to water from the delicious smells wafting through the house from the kitchen. Although it only took me taking one step into the dining room for my hunger pangs to revolt and become waves of nausea. I wanted to bolt right out the door when I saw the last remaining seat at the table was right next to Edward.

Didn't you just decide to stop running? my mind taunted me.

Time to put on the big girl panties.

I blew out a long gust of air and made my way to the table.

"You must be feeling much better now that you're dry, sweetie," Mae suggested as I sat down.

She was to my right at the end of the table and Edward on my left. To his left was Alice with Jasper next to her and Carlisle at the other end of the table. Across from us on the other side was Emmett, Rose and my niece Emma, whose highchair took up nearly two spots, thus leaving me having to sit next to Edward.

"Yes, much better. I'm sorry I held up dinner," I replied, sitting down, trying but failing to keep from brushing against Edward as I did.

"You didn't, your timing is just fine," she returned, reaching out and giving my hand a reassuring squeeze.

After Carlisle said a blessing, everyone began to pass the dishes loaded with thick slices of pot roast, mashed potatoes, gravy, and more around the table.

I watched as Edward filled his plate with heaping helpings of everything. I could imagine all the time he'd spent working on the fence had caused him to work up quite an appetite. I added a good-sized portion to my own plate hoping I'd be able to eat. If sitting next to Edward weren't bad enough, every time he'd pass a dish to me our hands would touch sending a zing of energy shooting through me. It once had been a feeling that I'd craved, relished, but I hadn't felt in so long it was quite shocking.

As we began to eat, the room was silent expect for the sounds of our utensils moving on our plates. There was a palpable tension in the room as if everyone was waiting for someone else to say something first.

As I nibbled at my food and moved it around my plate, not really eating anything, I wished that I could fast forward through this dinner.

I wanted desperately to steal a glance at Edward, to see if I could get a clue if he was as on edge as I was, but I felt like nearly everyone at the table had their eyes on me. It didn't help that for some reason it seemed our arms and legs kept brushing against each other. It was like we were two magnets that someone kept putting together only to pull us apart the next instant.

I was finally saved from my internal thoughts when Carlisle wiped his mouth with his napkin and asked, "So, Bella, what are your plans now that you've graduated? I think Emmett mentioned an internship or something."

"Well I'm not exactly sure yet. I was one of two finalists for a paid internship, but since I had to leave to come here I haven't heard if the final selection has been made."

"What will you be doing?" Esme asked.

"Oh, well if I get the spot I'll be working with a group of meteorologists, contractors, architects, and engineers to develop safer and more durable building codes to make homes and other structures able to better withstand hurricanes. It will actually help improve the same codes in tornado prone areas," I explained.

"Wow, that's pretty impressive," Carlisle said.

I could feel the heat of the blush I knew was creeping up my neck. Picking up my glass of water I took a big gulp and then replied. "Um not really. I mean it is, what they want to do, but I imagine the interns will just be doing the grunt work. Researching data and so on," I told them.

"I'm sure you'll be wonderful, dear," Esme assured me.

We all went on eating until my adorable niece decided that dinner had become too quiet and boring for her liking.

I was so relieved when Emma accidentally flung a huge spoon full of mashed potatoes across the room. All the attention was turned to her as she let out a tentative, "uh oh," followed by the cutest giggle I'd ever heard.

Poor Rose was red as a beet now and looked like she was about to scold her daughter when Jasper busted out laughing causing the rest of the room to laugh too.

After that most of the tension in the room melted away. Everyone talked back and forth about the different things going on in their lives like one big happy family.

One big happy family.

That thought circled through my brain. There had been a time when I'd taken being a part of this family for granted. A time when it had been a known thing that more likely than not one day I'd be a Cullen too.

You blew it, Bella.

With my thoughts back on myself and not on everyone around me, I was suddenly aware of how warm the side of my leg closest to Edward had become.

I reached down to rub it and was shocked when my hand rubbed against not only my leg but Edward's too. I swore I could have heard a hiss coming from him as though he'd been burned or zapped by a bolt of electricity.

Was that why I'd relaxed during dinner?

Edward's touch used to have such a calming effect on me. He could soothe me no matter how upset, nervous, or mad I'd been. He'd been like a miracle drug to me before.

However, I didn't really know him anymore. I didn't know if his reaction to our legs touching was a good one or a bad one. Fearing the worst, I tried to jerk my hand away but it was caught by Edward's.

Instantly my gaze snapped to his begging for some kind of explanation as to what he was doing. But what I saw were two green eyes that were filled with the same begging and needing. For what, I didn't know.

It felt like hours we'd been sitting there lost, staring at one another when I heard someone calling our names, causing Edward to look away.

It only took a second to see all eyes were on us. Mortified and worried that I'd be slammed with a billion questions over what just happened between Edward and me…how I was I supposed to answer when I didn't even know...I quickly managed to blurt out an 'excuse me' as I flew out of the room and through the back door.

As soon as I heard the second slam of the screen door I knew someone was hot on my tail.

"Are you ever going to stop this shit?"

"Excuse me?" I huffed and turned to face Edward.

"Here we go again. Am I that damn scary all you can do is run from me?"

"Last time I checked I was free to come and go as I please," I barked back at him. If he wanted a yelling match I was ready to give it to him. It was better than admitting to him he was right. Even though I'd promised myself it was time to quit running, but I'd had all I could take. I had to get out of here and clear my head.

This day had been a fucking emotional roller coaster of massive proportions. If I had to deal with any more twisty turns or loops…I was gonna jump the damn track of this ride just to hold on to my sanity.

"Fine. Go. Don't let me stop you!" he snapped and turned to go back in the house.

"Fuck!" I screamed in my head.

"What do you want from me, Edward? What the hell was that back at the table?" I yelled.

Then, of course, it started raining again.

Great now I'll get pneumonia too.

I watched as his shoulders slumped and his head fell forward at the same time.

"I don't know," he said in a defeated tone still facing the door.

"You don't know?"

"I don't know," he repeated.

"Well I don't either, so where does that leave us?" I asked.

"I don't know," he said again.

At this point I was totally flabbergasted and didn't know what to say. Standing here arguing or whatever it was we were doing wasn't going to get us anywhere. So, I did the only thing I could think of. I left. Walking as fast as I could. Hoping and praying I could make some sort of sense of all the emotions I was feeling.

My confrontation with Edward tonight had completely thrown me for a loop. I didn't expect to have to explain things to him. I had known he may have questions, but I had also thought that he would have gotten more of an explanation in the letter he was left. But of course, once again, Charlie left the hard part to me. And that was another thing I was torn on. Not only was I confused as to why now, why after he's already gone does he apologize? Was he really sorry, did he really realize he was wrong? Or had being on his death bed been enough to scare him to thinking he had to make amends in order for some kind of redemption. I didn't know. I was sure Edward was thinking I was running again, and maybe I was, I wasn't sure. What I was sure of was that I really needed some quiet to wrap my head around everything that had happened and had been said today. So that's what I was doing. Tonight I would take care of me, and tomorrow the rest could be dealt with.

So many of you either guessed why Bella had left or were very close. I hope it was worth the wait. Our two favorite love birds still have lots to talk about, but now maybe that the truth is out, they can begin to heal from a situation that deeply hurt them both.

Tell me what you think! Thanks for reading!

See ya soon,

~EA