Bring Him Home Chapter 44

It was a long night for me but Edward slept for most of it. He did however have bad dreams, calling out for his Mom and for me, he also cried quietly on and off, but never actually fully woke. I stayed by his side all night, I couldn't bear to leave him alone so I just spent the night with him, stroking his hair and talking quietly, reassuring him everything was going to be ok.  When the sun finally rose I realised I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore so I got up and went to brew some strong coffee to give me something to do and keep me awake for a while longer. Luckily there was nothing that my staff couldn't deal with at work, so I was going to have the whole day off. I sent a quick text to Rosalie and Alice to let them know I wouldn't be in and I settled down back in the bedroom to watch over Edward with my coffee.

It was actually early afternoon before he finally woke, I had already begun to worry that he was sleeping too long and I'd placed a call to Carlisle mid-morning to ask him if this was normal for Edward. He had informed me he needed to make a call and that he would call me straight back. I was stunned when ten minutes later Edward's therapist had called to talk to me. He asked me all about the events of the evening and how Edward had coped, we talked for half an hour about Edward and I told him about his disturbed sleep.

"That's wonderful Bella, it sounds as though he is finally processing everything and his mind is catching up. The simple act of breaking down has unlocked his mind and everything will be running through his sub conscious and in turn his dreams to bring him up to date hopefully".

I understood what the therapist was saying and he advised me to let Edward just sleep, he would be exhausted from the out pouring of emotion and also from his brain and body trying to catch up. I left him to sleep and had a quick nap myself before grabbing a bite of lunch. I was just thinking about doing some work when I heard movement in my bedroom. I clicked on the coffee before waiting for him to emerge, finally his head poked around the hallway looking for me.

"I'm sorry I slept so late, I hope I haven't kept you from anything" he said apologetically.

"Don't be silly, I wanted you to finally relax and get some obviously much needed sleep"

I didn't want him to think I felt sorry for him. I wanted to make sure he was looked after and I wanted to look after him.

"You must be starving, how about some coffee and toast?" I asked him as I made my way to the kitchen.

"That would be lovely. For the first time in ages I'm absolutely starving, usually I'm just pushing in food because Emmett says I have to, but I'm actually really hungry." on cue his stomach rumbled.

"How about we go out for something a bit more substantial?" I offered.

"No please, let's just stay here, I need to tell you the rest of what happened and I'd rather do that in the privacy of your home, away from everyone else."

"You can do that in your own time Edward, we don't need to do this now" I told him.

"I'd rather finish telling you and get it all out in the open, I feel different this morning, lighter somehow, it's very strange but I do feel more like the old me" he almost attacked the toast and coffee I placed in front of him so as I set about doing top ups of both I tried to decide if I should tell him about my call with his therapist. I wrestled with it till I realised his therapist would probably talk about it at their next appointment so I realised I'd have to tell him, much better if I came clean about it now rather than later.

We sat at my dining table and as he munched his way through toast and jam I told him all about the conversation and his advice to let him sleep so his mind could process all the stored information.

"That makes a lot of sense, I've tried so hard not to remember because remembering brought so much hurt and pain, no wonder I feel better this morning "

There was a definite twinkle in his eye, his smile was wider and it was easier, it sat comfortably on his face finally. He was without doubt absolutely stunning. I knew he was handsome but he had always seemed so sad, now he was radiating warmth and the beginnings of happiness hopefully.

"I want to tell you about what happened after I realised Tanya had been cheating on me and why everything turned as ugly as it did" he poured himself a glass of water and went and made himself comfortable on the couch, patting the cushion next to him as he did.

I rose from the table and went to join him, I didn't really want to hear this but I knew I had to, if we were going to move forward we needed to be honest with one another.

"Now where did I get to last night? Oh yes, I had caught Tanya in a compromising position but instead of confronting her I chickened out and ran"

He smiled to himself, a little weird but I could only presume he was coping easier with thinking about her.

"When I got back to my apartment and she was sitting there just like the last few hours hadn't happened, I almost made myself believe I hadn't seen it either. I looked around to see if I could spot any signs that would tell me who it had been in my bed but Tanya had cleaned up really well. It wasn't until she put a tray on my lap with the heated up leftovers that things really closed in on me, I asked her why we didn't eat at the little dining table I had and she replied that it was too much hassle to pull the table out, set it, clean up and then put it all away again."

He took a huge drink of water and took a few deep breaths

"It cut through me, ripping my heart apart, she couldn't be bothered to do that for me but she was happily doing it for whoever was visiting her while I was studying in the library. I had to excuse myself, I think I said I was going for a shower and as I stood under the hot stream of water I broke down and sobbed, I sobbed so hard I made myself sick. It sounds stupid now but then I felt as though my whole world had been destroyed"

He stopped and took another drink.

"I went straight to bed after the shower and listened to her in the next room, she lasted about an hour before she came in to check I was asleep. I must have put on a convincing show because I heard her quietly leave the apartment about ten minutes later. I tried to decide whether to follow her or not but I decided she had had too much of a head start and I had no idea where she going. I got back up and made some coffee and after looking around I realised she had left her bag and some other bits and bobs here, she was coming back, so I decided to wait up for her. I finally heard her key in the lock about two hours later, as I was sitting up in bed I quickly slid under the covers and feigned sleep again, Tanya slipped into the bedroom and straight into the shower before finally getting in to bed beside me."

"So you just let her come and go?" I was surprised he was so calm about everything.

"I was trying to decide whether to confront her or to try and find out who she was sleeping with, I figured I'd need to catch her unawares if I was going to do the latter."

"So what did you decide then?" I asked him not sure what the answer would be.

"I set out for the library as normal the next day but did a detour so I waited in the alleyway across from my apartment building, and sure enough 30 minutes later Tanya appeared and let herself into the building. Not ten minutes after that a guy I recognised approached and pressed the buzzer for my apartment"

I couldn't help myself I had to ask "Well who was it?"

"I'd met him about two years ago, he was at a function Tanya had dragged me to, something to do with her course, she got extra points for attending it I think. I was sure he was her professor or something, definitely somebody who was directly involved with her education. I knew then why she never seemed to have any coursework to do and why she wasn't meeting the guy in public anywhere"

"OK so what did you do?" It was like listening to a soap opera unfold.

"I didn't do anything that night, I just waited to see what time he left, it really pissed me off that he didn't leave till 8.45pm, which meant Tanya had 15 minutes to get everything straight before I usually got home. I watched them from different vantage points over the next week trying to see how often he visited and at what times and I tried to learn everything I could about him by researching the staff available records at the university online. It turned out he was married, so that's why he left around 8.30pm most nights, so he could get home to his wife."

"Ok I understand all that, so how did everything get so hateful then? Why did all those girls lie about you?"

"I finally decided to confront them, I waited until they were both inside , gave them 30 minutes to get relaxed and then let myself in very quietly. They were cuddled up on the sofa in the middle of a heavy session and it took them a few seconds to realise the door had actually opened. "

He turned and smiled at me, it was still quite relaxed

"I surprised myself, even though I was dying inside I held my nerve and just stood looking at them. Eventually Tanya realised I was there and pushed her lover off her, she tried to speak but I closed her down instantly. Don't bother Tanya, I told her, I know you've been cheating on me for years so please just both of leave and make sure you both leave the keys behind. "

" I was so proud of myself Bella, I got that out without breaking down and I even kept it together when he put a key to my apartment on the table."

He took another breath and my heart broke for him as I saw the emotion flicker across his face.

"I couldn't help myself as he walked out of the door, I told him that I had called his wife and informed her where he was, the professor just swore and ran out of the apartment without even looking back at Tanya. She on the other hand was screaming and shouting after him, begging him not to leave her and promising him that everything would be alright"

"Fucking bitch! How could she do that in front of you?"

"Bella Swan I don't think I've ever heard you use a curse word before" he said as he smiled at me.

"Sorry I just can't believe what she did to you" it was true, if I could have found her I would have ...well I would certainly have hurt her, that's for sure.

"Things started to unravel for Tanya after that. I took the key and threw her out, the professor went off on long term sick leave the next morning and eventually left the university, and because there was no one to cover for her anymore, the stand in professor started to ask where all her course work was. She hadn't been doing any work, I presume the professor had been giving her grades for nothing. To cover over the scandal, the university gave her the option to resit a whole year or to leave quietly. She chose the easy way out and left a week later. I thought that was the end of everything, but I was so wrong. She had spent her last week with her ‘sisters', planning a way to get back at me, because apparently I had ruined her life. She had lost the love of her life because I had told his wife, he had previously promised to leave her but not until after Tanya graduated obviously. Me forcing the issue had caused him to lose his job, although in reality it was his own actions that did that, and I doubt he ever had any intention of leaving his wife in the first place. "

"What did his wife say when you told her?"

"Oh I didn't actually tell her anything, I never even spoke to her, I was going to but I couldn't bring myself to tell her when I realised she was heavily pregnant. I'd followed him home one night and she had opened the door for him, he actually kissed her stomach on the doorstep"

"So why did he leave then, he could have just braved it out?"

"I presume he went home and told her everything and they decided to get away before the scandal hit"

"Oh so how long was it till you were arrested?"

"That was about five days later. Tanya had schooled them very well. A number of her sorority sisters came forward and told a very simple but similar story. I'd apparently over the year, individually, taken them to one side, come onto them and then offered to take them for a drink. Once we were out I'd drugged them, taken them back to my place, date raped them and then thrown them out. Tanya had given them all specific descriptions of my apartment, so they could tell the police about my bedding, wall colours, pictures and things. She even told them about my body, I have a scar on my side from an accident in my childhood, all of them described it accurately."

"But if you had drugged them, how would they know all those details, surely they wouldn't remember anything about your body or the apartment?" I asked

"Well that is apparently what made the police suspicious, after they had arrested me they started to dig a little deeper. It didn't take them long to realise all the girls were giving a very similar statement and they soon realised Tanya was at the centre of it. She was questioned in her home town and she got so irate during questioning it was her that actually blew the evidence wide open. I'm still not sure what she said but the girls were all charged with giving false evidence two days later."

"But you had already gone by then?"

"Yes between Tanya cheating on me, the arrest and my Mom dying whilst I was talking to her, well let's just say I couldn't handle anymore. I set out to walk to the grocery store as I needed milk and other groceries, and well I just kept walking, it was as though I couldn't turn around. As I passed a litter bin I tossed my phone in it and just carried on. I didn't stop walking for the next six years."

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