HE LEFT ME!!

internal strugle

Edward

"Edward, now would be the best time," Alice whispered softly from my side. We stood there in the backyard, staring up in silence at the window to Bella's room. The light flickered on and a moment later Bella was standing in front of the window. I knew she wouldn't see us in our cover under the trees. I watched her, outlined by bright rays of golden light. She was breathtaking.

"I should go," I spoke abruptly, taking a step toward the house. Alice grabbed my arm, stopping me.

"Now is the best time for her to experience this," Alice whispered, her voice grim, "He is going to say some awful things to her. She needs to hear them."

"I won't let him hurt her! There's no chance in hell that I'll let him hurt -"

"I'm not telling you to let him hurt her, Edward," Alice interrupted, "He'll yell before he strikes. Let him yell, then save her."

"It's hurting her to let him yell!" I protested.

"It's helping her in the end," Alice's voice remained calm, but held a ring of authority that it hadn't had before. She stepped in front of me, her eyes narrowed. Her hand stayed latched to my arm for fear that I would run. "It'll upset her, Edward, but that's what she needs. She's not fully decided in getting Allie out of there. Trust me, I would know."

She tapped the side of her head for emphasis.

"But she said -"

"Edward," she interrupted me again. I growled in frustration. "She wants to be with you. With us. That's decided. That's always been decided. She's scared of fighting for Allie. She sounded decided, but she's not. Not yet. This will make her decide.

"You want to force her decision with violence!" I accused, my voice incredulous.

"It's not going to become violent, Edward," she began. I opened my mouth to object, but she silenced me with a look, "I'll make sure you get in there before he does any harm to her. He yells at her all the time, Edward. It's upsetting, but it won't hurt her. She'll be fine."

"You're still trying to force her to decide."

"No, I'm not!" she snapped back before sighing. "Edward, I would not force Bella to do something she didn't want to do. I care about her too, you know."

"I know that, Alice," I whispered, my eyes turning back to the window. Bella still stood there. Still elegant. Still beautiful. "But if she hasn't decided, we can't force her to."

"She has decided for herself," Alice mumbled, releasing my arm. She must have realized that I decided to listen to her. "Like I said, she's scared about fighting for Allie. She's worried she'll lose her. She's worried she'll leave Allie in a hell."

"I'll kill Mike before that happens." I growled.

"Oh, I know that," Alice giggled for a moment before her face became serious, "You don't want to be too late, Edward. Mike will hurt Allie. Maybe not now, but someday."

"Hurt Allie?" I stared at Alice, my voice doubtful, "Alice, I know Mike is horrible, but Allie is his leverage over Bella. Why would he ever hurt Allie? Why would he want to?"

"To hurt her."

"It hurts her more to hold Allie over her head," I retorted.

"Edward, I saw his choices. As soon as I knew about Allie and Mike, I began checking their futures," Alice's voice became as dark as her eyes, "He thought about killing her."

My mind went racing with those five simple words. It took Alice a minute of shaking my body to get me to focus on her eyes. "Edward!" she whispered urgently, "Edward, be quiet! Do you have any idea how loud you are? You'll give us away!"