Broken Hearted on the Mend

Esme's Point of View

Edward had called me to ask if I could come out to Massachusetts and help with Miss Hart. He had told me that she was hysterical and might either talk to Bella or myself. Carlisle said that I should go and take a mini vacation. Alice had reassured me that Renesmee would be fine with her and Jasper. I told Edward that the next flight out of Seattle I would be there. I had made it there in one day. From the airport I took a taxi to the edge of the forest and tipped the driver very well.

Once there I took my suitcase and began running towards the house that I had renovated about thirty years ago. When I arrived no one was there. I was a little disheartened because I was hoping to meet Miss Hart soon. I didn't have to wait long though. Edward came in first followed by Bella and then my dearest son Emmett. He was carrying a human in his arms, but it seemed as if she had been in an accident.

"Emmett dear what happened to the poor girl," I asked concern filling my voice.

"I found her being beaten by an older man in an exam room at the hospital," Edward answered.

"What were you guys doing at the hospital," I asked the concern peaking.

"Rhiannon's aunt was admitted last night for stab wounds," Emmett said.

Bella had disappeared upstairs. Emmett laid Rhiannon, such a beautiful name, down on the couch. Edward left towards the woods to hunt and Emmett followed soon after. I could hear Bella upstairs pacing back and forth as if deep in thought. I sprinted up the stairs to find her with a furrowed brow and her hands worrying the hem of her shirt.

"Bella, sweetie what's the matter," I asked.

She stopped and looked at me.

"Oh Esme, something is seriously wrong with Rhiannon, but she won't tell us. I don't know how to help if she won't tell us what's wrong with her," she all but cried out.

"Give her time. She's probably scared and frightened for her aunt," I said.

"I'm glad you're here. If I can't get through to her then I bet you can," she said.

"I'll try everything I can. There's only so much I can do," I answered softly.

Everyone thought that I had the biggest heart even if it was a cold hard stone rock in my chest. I loved everything and everyone. It almost killed me when Rosalie died because Emmett had spiraled down to almost nothing. Everyone had been devastated, but Emmett was hurt the most. He had lost one of his other halves. I could tell that Rhiannon would be Emmett's second soul mate. Someone who would be just as good as Rosalie was for him. I missed Rosalie, but it was time to move on.

"What do you think is wrong or upsetting her," I asked.

"I don't know, but when we first got here I had moved her hair out of her face and noticed red marks on her neck. I confronted her about and she told me that she would explain when Emmett and Edward returned. When they had though, she lied and then asked if she could go see her aunt," she replied.

"Okay, well obviously something or someone has frightened her into keeping secrets from people she probably doesn't know love her," I stated.

"Well the other thing that bothered me was that when we had gotten to the hospital she had asked to go alone to see her aunt. I don't know why, but she did. Emmett let her, but I felt uncomfortable with the idea. I persuaded Edward, without Emmett knowing of course, to go and see if she was okay after hours of her not returning. That was when he came back out leading her, all beaten up, towards the car," Bella continued.

"Honey, you have to understand that sometimes people can't immediately tell their secrets.

It all has to do with trust in the person that they are friends with. Once they feel that they can fully trust that other person then they might be able to tell them their secrets," I advised.

"Are you saying that we have to tell her our secret first," she asked.

"No because it's the same for us. We have to earn her trust to learn her secrets and she has to earn our trust to learn our secrets," I amended.

Bella just nodded and slumped into a chair. I could actually understand her frustration because we hadn't been so secretive around her when she was human, but then again she had made it a mission to figure out what we truly were so there was no need to be secretive. Although, Edward was more secretive when it came to protecting her because of how he felt about her. I stood behind Bella and rubbed her shoulders and she relaxed a little until we both heard Rhiannon scream. We raced back to her in a matter of seconds to find out that she was having a nightmare.

"No, Uncle Kyle please stop," she whimpered.

"Rhiannon, sweetie wake up you're having a nightmare," Bella said after she sat next to her.

I stood by the stairs watching. Bella was such a good mother figure. Renesmee was just as beautiful as my lovely children and Bella had that mothering instinct inside of her. It was nice to see it come out after Renesmee was born a few years ago. A smile pulled at my lips, but the worry I felt for this poor girl kept it at bay. Rhiannon shot up from the couch with an audible gasp just then and a look of pure terror on her face.

"Don't make me go back there," she cried.

"Rhiannon, I would like you to meet someone else from our family," Bella said.

I walked forward and saw Rhiannon turn her head towards me.

"Hi, my name is Esme Cullen I'm Bella, Edward, and Emmett's mother," I said with a small smile.

"My name's Rhiannon, but if you'd like you can call me Rhia," she answered my introduction.

"Your name is really beautiful. What does it mean," I asked truly curious.

"A blonde goddess riding a pure white horse," she answered.

"Interesting," I mumbled incoherently.

I watched her as she curled her legs up underneath her chin and wrapped her arms around them. She looked so fearful and vulnerable that I just felt the need to stay as long as I could in order to help her as much as I could and as much as she would allow me to.

Edward's Point of View

I was royally pissed off at the moment. Almost to the point where I could kill a human, but I wouldn't. Seeing Rhiannon being beaten the way she was made the venom in my veins boil with rage. I loved her, but not in the sense that I loved Bella and my daughter. No, I loved her like a sister and I felt the need to protect her from that vicious man that had been hitting her.

After we had gotten home from the hospital and Emmett had laid Rhiannon back on the couch I had convinced him to come hunting with me because I had some things that I needed to tell him and they were important. After taking our fill in the deer that inhabited the forest and a wolf each we stood along the mountainside of the mountains near Canada. I stood like a statue alongside my brother looking out towards the valleys below. They were beautiful and awe-inspiring.

"So what did you need to talk to me about," Emmett asked after standing silent for so long.

"It's about Rhiannon," I said.

"And," he prompted.

"Well, I love her," I began and I felt him stiffen, "not like I love Bella and my daughter, but like a sister," I amended and he relaxed almost instantly.

"Okay, so why are you explaining this to me," he asked.

"Well it's also about what I said earlier when Bella and I first arrived," I replied.

"About being her attorney only if she trusted you," he stated.

"Yes, and I'm amending that now because I will be her attorney even if she doesn't trust me because I want to help protect her like you helped me protect Bella all those years ago," I explained.

"Really," he exclaimed.

"Yes. I realize after saving her from that horrid man at the hospital that you would have done the same for me if the situation was reversed," I answered.

Emmett did the last thing I expected him to, which was pick me up and almost squeeze me to death, of course figuratively speaking.

"Someone's cheering up," I teased.

"Well, there's something about Rhiannon that reminds me of Rosalie and the fact that I think I'm starting to fall in love with her," he answered putting me down.

"If you need any advice about loving a human, you know who to ask," I smirked at him.

"Of course I do," he grinned sheepishly.

"And I think the old Emmett is making a comeback," I teased him.

"Race you back to the house," he challenged.

I was considerably faster than he was so I knew I was going to win, not by much, but I was still going to win so I nodded my head. As we raced back towards Massachusetts though the most disturbing thoughts came seeping through my head and it sounded like someone was plotting to either kill another person or at least manipulate one.

"Emmett wait," I called stopping in the middle of the forest.

"Edward what is it," he asked stopping next to me.

"Hold on, let me listen," I replied so I did.

I must get Rhiannon to trust me otherwise my plan will go up in smoke all around me. She has to believe that I didn't kill her aunt. If she believes that then I can move forward with my plan. Rhiannon must also believe that whoever she is hanging out with these days doesn't really want her and all they want is to hurt her. Maybe in order to pull this off I have to stop beating her. Nah, there's no fun in being nice to someone. If I hadn't threatened Maria she would have left ages when I had first abused her. It's nice to know that I have so much control over the women in this house. They wouldn't think twice to go to the police on me.

The thoughts stopped. It must have been the same man who had attacked Rhiannon at the hospital. He was going to continue attacking her unless we did something to stop it. I clenched my fists in fury.

"Edward what is it? What did you hear," Emmett asked me.

"I'll tell you at the house, but first we need to confront Rhiannon about what happened to her today at the hospital," I said.

"What do you mean confront her," he asked.

"I mean if I'm going to help her with this mess that she's in with this petty human; then I'm going to need to know the whole truth," I replied.

"What if she's not ready to tell the truth," he countered.

"Then I'll wait patiently, or pick it out of her thoughts," I answered smoothly.

"But you said they weren't clear to you," he countered again.

"Then I guess I'll just have to wait patiently for her to talk now won't I," I replied.

We ran back to the house a lot faster than we would normally go in the forest. If Rhiannon wanted a better lifestyle then she would have to start talking about her past. Just as we made it to the front yard of the house my phone rang and Alice's name showed on the caller ID.

"I'll be inside in a minute," I whispered to Emmett.

He just nodded and left me alone.

"What is it Alice," I asked into the phone.

"Edward, Rhiannon is in serious danger," she said getting to the point.

"I know and I'm going to do my best to help her," I answered.

"No not by humans, well by humans as well, but people like us are headed there," she griped.

"What," I hissed into the phone.

"Not just any type of us either. It's the Volturi Guard. They want revenge on Emmett for
killing Demetri and Felix two years ago," she said.

"Well good riddance to those two anyway. They were horrible and deserved it for killing Rosalie," I spat.

"I know, but they somehow found out that Emmett has another love interest and they have made it their mission to kill her once they get there," she said.

"What are we supposed to do put her on a plane to another state," I asked.

"No, that will just make it more fun for them. They've found another tracker like Demetri and once she get's the scent of Rhiannon she's unstoppable," she said.

"Like James was," I growled.

"Yes very similar to James and Demetri, but I think more powerful," she replied.

"Damn it," I almost roared.

"Edward the only way I can think of to protect Rhiannon is…," but she didn't finish because I knew exactly what she was going to say.

"No Alice. It's too dangerous because we don't know when they will arrive," I answered her unfinished sentence.

"But Edward I've seen it. If you change her and then set her loose on the Volturi they won't stand a chance against her," she said.

"What do you mean," my curiosity peaked.

"I mean when she's changed she will be the only one of a unique breed of vampire. Her eyes will not change and her special gifts will be endless to the point where the Volturi won't know what hit them in the first place," she explained.

"I'll talk to Emmett, but as it was with Bella, I'm leaving the decision up to him," I replied.

"Okay, well I thought I would let you know," she answered and then hung up.

I closed the phone and slipped it back into my shirt pocket. I let out a sigh of frustration and when I looked up I saw Bella standing in front of the door. She walked towards me or rather glided towards me. I felt my face split into a genuine smile. She smiled at me and then her face became serious.

"Edward is everything okay," she asked.

"No, Rhiannon is in trouble and not just by humans," I whispered furiously.

"You mean a situation like what happened to me five years ago," she asked just as quietly as I had been and I just nodded in response.

"I don't know how to tell Emmett, but he's going to be furious about the current situation," I said after awhile.

"We aren't going to let anything happen to her, that's for sure," she said wrapping her arms around my waist.

"I know. Come on let's get inside and see if Rhiannon will talk now," I said and grabbed her hand to walk in with her.

Once inside Bella left my side to go sit with Esme who was sitting close to Rhiannon. Emmett was standing by the kitchen entrance waiting for me to come in. Rhiannon had informed everyone that she was finally going to talk about what happened to her and why she was truly here. She said it was going to be a long story and wanted everyone present so that she didn't have to repeat herself.

Emmett said that she didn't have to talk about it just yet, but she said she did because then it would keep haunting her if she just kept ignoring it. I sat down in an armchair close to the door, but before Rhiannon could open her mouth and tell her story though there was a knock on the door. I stood up and went to open the door and I felt Emmett right by my side. On the front porch stood a female with long black hair and stunning hazel eyes and she carried a small bag with her.

"Can I help you," I asked.

"Yes, I've heard that a Miss Rhiannon Hart was staying here," she said.

"Who are you," Emmett cut in a little rudely.

"I'm her Aunt Lorelei and I'm here to take her back to South Carolina with me," she said.

"Just one moment please," I said and then shut the door in her face.

Emmett and I both turned towards Rhiannon and the petrified look on her face told us that this woman was lying through her teeth, plus I could hear her thoughts, which also confirmed it. Someone was trying to take Rhiannon out of our care so that they could seriously hurt her. I looked at Rhiannon and she shook her head no once and that was all I needed. Emmett went to stand next to her, while I got to deal with the imposter family member. I opened the door back up and then stepped outside.

"I'm sorry, but Rhiannon is unavailable right now. She's actually not even here at the moment. She went to go visit a few friends of mine in Washington State and I don't know when she will return," I lied fluidly.

"Is there an address that I can reach her at that I might be able to find her there," she asked.

I heard Bella's voice in my head telling me to give Charlie's address and that Alice would be there to receive her and lie about her whereabouts there.

"Of course and I'll even write it down for you," I said with a smile.

"Thank you," she said breathlessly.

"Is everything okay," I asked narrowing my eyes a little.

"Oh yes. It's just when I heard that Rhiannon's parents, my older brother died and Rhiannon had to go live with her mother's sister and husband I've been trying to get her out of that situation as soon as possible. Then I heard word that Maria was killed so I worked harder and faster and finally have a decent place for Rhiannon to live in," she explained.

"Well, maybe you'll find her in Washington," I said thickly handing her the piece of paper with Chief Swan's address on it.

"Thank you so much," she said with a smile and then left.

I closed the door and turned back towards Rhiannon and the others. I think we all were expecting an explanation now from Rhiannon and I couldn't wait for her to start talking. Emmett walked over to her and gave her a bottle of water so that her mouth wouldn't dry out and then we all waited. The room was silent for several minutes before Rhiannon started talking.