Finding Love Through Music

Chapter Four

Okay, new story...very close to my life. Kind of. I'm humbled by the reviews and responses that this story has already received. A lot of you are begging to know Bella's back story. You'll find out. In time. It will be alternating point of views.

Also, none of this belongs to me. Never will. I just like to play with the characters created by Stephenie Meyer.

Just an FYI – part of this story is similar to my own. The story that you are about to hear is COMPLETELY made up. I've never been placed in a situation like this. If a guy ever raises his hand to me in violence, I'd be out of there faster than a bat out of hell. I do not condone domestic violence and I'm appalled by it. However, James in my story is a sadistic fucker who tried to control every action that Bella took...This chapter will be filled with violence. If you are offended by this, don't read this chapter.

*ANGST WARNING!*

*TISSUE WARNING!*

Chapter Four

BPOV

"You know what? I need to tell someone about it. God knows I'm not getting any better by bottling it up anymore," I said. "My ex-fiancé beat me nearly to death."

Edward sputtered out his water and looked at me with shock. "Excuse me, what?"

"My ex-fiancé beat me nearly to death," I said as I stared at the wood grain of the table. "It's not a pretty story. But for some strange reason I feel like I can talk to you. If you don't want to listen, I'll..."

"No, Bella. Please, I know I was an asshole when we first met but I want to listen," Edward murmured. He reached across the table and took my hand in his, gently rubbing my palm with his thumb.

I took a breath and flipped my hand in his. I pulled up my sleeve of my sweater, showing Edward one of my first scars that I had gotten from James' hand. I had broken my wrist and I needed surgery to get the bones reset. I had a seven-inch long scar from the surgery. "I met James Hunter when I was seventeen years old," I began. "He was a senior at Forks High School. Big man on campus. I was a junior. I was the resident theater geek. The only guys I hung out with were gay and the girls were catty bitches. But, I fit in with them. Not that I'm a catty bitch."

I smiled bitterly at the memory of how James and I met. The waitress had taken that opportunity to make her presence known. I ordered the first thing I saw and another glass of water. Edward did the same; his emerald green eyes never leaving mine.

"So, James," Edward whispered.

"Right, James," I sneered. "He was the captain of the football team. He already a full-ride scholarship to Stanford University for football. He was gorgeous, of course. Short blonde hair with piercing blue eyes. Built like a god. The guys wanted to be him. The girls wanted to fuck him. And did he fuck them.

"But he got bored with the vapid tramps in his class. He turned his attention to me. At first, I was surprised that James Hunter was flirting with me. Me! I was such a nerd. Frizzy brown hair, plain brown eyes, baby fat, the whole nine yards of being the typical nerd. I pretty much ignored him all of first semester. He was relentless, though. He'd buy me flowers. Escort me to class. Tell me how pretty I was. I still didn't believe it. It wasn't until second semester that I finally buckled and agreed to go out with him."

"I'm guessing that he started out all sweet and loving, right?" Edward asked quietly, his face a somber mask.

"Yeah," I sighed. "We dated all through my senior year of high school. It was a long distance relationship but James was determined to make it work. The first time I noticed that he had a mean streak was when he came home unexpectedly one weekend. It was the final weekend of the spring musical, Oliver! I was playing the part of 'Nancy.' James wanted me to go out with him on Saturday night. But it was closing night of the show. I couldn't miss it. They hadn't double cast the part and I told him no. He flew into a rage. He grabbed my wrist so hard that he crushed my bones. When I screamed in agony, he dropped my hand like it was a white-hot poker and he ran out of my dad's place. I pulled it together and performed the show with a broken wrist. I skipped out of the cast party to go to the hospital. The doctor asked me how I got the break and I said that I fell during the production. My surgery was scheduled a month later and I was in a cast for six weeks.